DEFENCE
REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
FROM THE ASPERSIONS OF MR. JEFFERSON.
By jo. SEAWELL JONES,
OF SHOCCO, NORTH CAROLINA.
Gloria est consentieng laus bonorum, incorrupta vox bene judicantium de excel-
lente virtute. — Cic. Tuscul. m. c. 2.
Hie simiolus persuaserat nonnuUia invidis meis. — Cic. Fam. epist. 2.
BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY CHARLES BO WEN
RALEIGH:
TURNER AND HUGHES.
1834.
ieoke^.
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1834,
by Charles Bowen,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
CAMBRIDGE:
PRINTED BY CHARLES FOLSOM.
TO
MAJOR WILLIAM GIBBS MCNEILL, U. S. A.,
OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Tremont House, February 1, 1834.
My Dear McNeill,
I dedicate to you this volume, written in the defence of
the State of North Carolina, a portion of the Union, to us
consecrated by the most endearing recollections of birth
and childhood. She is the mother country of your sires
as well as of yourself, and thus doubly deserves that devot-
ed affection, which it is your boast so long to have cher-
ished for her. In thus dedicating the work, I own, I am
anxious publicly to acknowledge my heavy obligations to
you, for a long, sincere, and social friendship, and to con-
gratulate my countrymen, that they are represented in the
polite society of Boston, by a gentleman, distinguished, not
only for his unwavering and honorable deportment in every
crisis, but for the highest professional attainments, and for
the space which he fills in the affectionate regard of so
many of the most eminent gentlemen of the eastern me-
tropolis of our country.
I shall embrace the present occasion to offer a few
remarks on the history of North Carolina, which could not
find an appropriate page in the body of the work, and
which would perhaps be considered as of rather too perso-
nal a nature, for a prefatory address to the reader. To you
1*
VI DEDICATION.
as a friend and fellow-citizen, they may be properly address-
ed, and thus ])ublished to the people of the State.
Who, even in North Carolina, recurs to the characters of
our illustrious dead ? Of those wlio stood forth for their
country in the darkest hour of the war, and who fought
with a courage worthy of the glory of their cause ? Of
Harvey, Johnston, Harnett, Hooper, Jones, and Iredell, in
the cabinet ; of Howe, Lillington, Ashe, Caswell, Moore, and
Rutherford, in the field ? — men whose zeal but increased
with the thickness of the dangers that clouded the destiny
of the New World. Statesmen and festival orators, alike
with the school-boy declaimer, are mute as to their valor,
virtue, or fame. The character of Mr. Jefferson is a more
fruitful source of panegyric than that of Harnett, Hooper,
or Harvey, and the reputation of a zealous idolater a more
enviable prize than that of a defender of the State. I do
bewail this indifference to the superior claims of our own
sires ; for it is by appealing to their sacrifices and hardships
that public spirit is best kept alive, and a laudable pride to
elevate the character of our government is best sustained.
Extinguish this feeling of veneration for the character
of our ancestors, and you vitally assail the honor of the
State, corrupt and degrade the people, and by degrees
inure them to the control of a foreign demagogue. In the
winter of 1775 and 1776, when the armies and fleets of
Lord Dunmore infested the streets and harbour of Norfolk,
General Howe of North Carolina marched to its relief, and
repelled the invader. The soldiers of the State contributed
to the defence of Charleston against the armament of Sir
Peter Parker, in June 1776 ; and yet the descendants of
those heroes must appeal to the history of the adjacent
States, for bright examples of American valor. Is there
nothing in the victories achieved by Howe, Lillington, and
Caswell, or in the Mecklenburg Declaration of Indepen-
DEDICATION. Vll
dence, the zeal of Hooper in the same cause, and the reso-
lution of the Congress of North Carolina in April 1776, to
arouse the enthusiasm of the people of the State ? It is a
recollection of these honorable events in our history, that
warms the bosom of the patriot soldier in the midst of
great public distress, and that, even when the liberties of
the people are overwhelmed, will inspire him with a hope
of renown, in the regeneration of his country. The spirit
of Leonidas, after a slumber of ages, has marched trium-
phantly through Greece, and, sweeping, in its resistless
progress, the strongest bulwarks of Turkish despotism, has
established the foundations of a Greek Empire. Upon
what more durable basis does the government of England
stand than this feeling of national greatness? Proud of
the origin of his nation, of the victories that blaze on the
page of his country's history, of the extent of her empire,
and of the antiquity and splendor of her government, a
Briton clings to his country with filial affection, and woes
even death itself, to elevate and sustain her honor. Ex-
tinguish this spirit in the British nation, and old England,
proud as she is, with her centuries of glory, her noble
peerage, her splendid judiciary, the Gibraltar of her con-
stitutional liberty, and all her time-worn institutions, glides
from her lofty throne, and like an Alpine avalanche, that
buries every thing in its tremendous fall, melts away into
the stream, and hurries downward to the ocean of time.
It is because I believe that Mr. Jefferson contributed to
smother this public spirit in North Carolina, that I have
held up his name as deserving the execration of every
native citizen of the State. Mark the history of his in-
fluence among us. In 1801, the period of his boasted
victory, what was the condition of our State 1 Who were
her great men 1 — who her political leaders ? Governor
Johnston, General Davie, James Iredell, Alfred Moore,
ViU DEDICATION.
Archibald Henderson, were among the signs of our political
zodiac, whose lustre was obscured by the ascent of this
most " malign influence." The virtue and ability of the
State, which had opposed the elevation of Mr. Jefferson,
were overlooked and thrust aside, to make way, let history
say for whom. From the moment of his triumph in the
elections of the State, the energies and resources of the
people were forgotten ; the talents of our country, as well
as its physical improvement, neglected ; and the aid of every
voice invoked, to swell the funeral cry of the characters of
our own forefathers.
It is said that " the brilliant thunderbolt is the child of
the storm," and that political convulsions fling out the
genius of a country, fined from the heat of the strife. But
you will search the history of the State in vain for any such
exhibitions from the crowded ranks of the Jeffersonian
cohort. Not an instance can be found ; and the fact is too
notorious in North Carolina to need any appeal to individuals
or circumstances. The influence of Mr. Jefferson and his
party, disguise it as you will, was a paralysis upon the very
vitals of the State. It cramped the nerves, stupefied the
brain, obscured the vision, and almost arrested the pulsation
of the heart. The brute part of our nature alone was left
unhurt and unscathed by the ravages of this most degrad-
ing leprosy. It was as if the angel of death had spread
his wings on the blast, and withered even the green sod
that decked the graves of our heroic fathers.
It is for the purpose of bringing to light " the proud
historic deeds " of our ancestors, that I have written this
book. I appeal from the living to the dead, to justify the
eulogy which it pronounces upon the character of the State.
I have hoped too that a recollection of their virtues might
inspire us with a zeal to transmit to another generation
the escutcheon of the State, bright as it was when it came
DEDICATION. IX
from the hands of the heroes of Seventy-six. I invoke the
cooperation of the people of the State, in the regenera-
tion of our native country ; not only in the exposition of its
history, but in the improvement of its moral, intellectual,
and physical condition.
In the accomplishment of such a duty, whilst I know,
my dear Sir^ I have your best wishes as a friend, and your
warmest thanks as a native North-Carolinian, I must still
lament the absence of that professional skill, by the home
employment of which, our physical condition might be so
much improved. Wishing you, however, whether in North
Carolina or Massachusetts, that success in all your under-
takings, to which your merits so justly entitle you,
I have the honor to subscribe myself
your affectionate friend,
JO. SEAWELL JONES.
ERRATA.
Page 112, line 15, for law read lace
" 129, " 18, " Spurill " Spruill
« 220, " 1, " AND " OF
" 249, " 3, " 11th of March " 26th of February*
" 325, " 24, " crevix (in afeio copies) " cervix
* The battle of Moore's Creek was fought on the 27th of February, 1776, and
the letter of Mr. Ashe, alluded to on page 249, was dated on the 11th of March j
thus the error in the text.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
PART I.
A History of the Administration of Josiah
Martin, the Last of the Royal Governors,
AND THE Downfall of the Royal Government
of North Carolina. • .... 17
CHAPTER I.
The Character of Governor Tryon . . .17
CHAPTER II.
The Administration of Governor Martin . 66
CHAPTER III.
The Same 120
CHAPTER IV.
The Same 151
CHAPTER V.
The Same 156
CHAPTER VI.
The Same 172
XU CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
The New Whig Government . . , . 193
CHAPTER VIII.
The Same 217
CHAPTER IX.
The Same 229
CHAPTER X.
The Same 239
CHAPTER XI.
The Same 251
CHAPTER XII.
The Same 265
CHAPTER XIII.
The Constitution of North Carolina . . 272
part II.
The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence,
ON the 20th of May, 1775 .... 294
PART III.
The Character of William Hooper . . . 309
APPENDIX.
The Military Organization of the State in
1775 AND 1776 . . . ... . 333
The Battle of Moore's Creek . . . 341
INTRODUCTION
On the 20th of May, 1775, the people of the county of
Mecklenburg in North Carolina, in convention assembled,
declared themselves free and independent. They in the
most solemn and unanimous form abjured all allegiance
to the British king, and instituted a system of government
independent of the authority of the Royal Governor.
These remarkable proceedings are not recorded by any
of our early historians, and have lived only by memory
and tradition among the people of North Carolina. I own,
that it is surprising so important an event should have
escaped the vigilance of so many writers. The people of
North Carolina too were content that the matter should
sleep nearly half a century, and even then, that it should
be produced on the perishable pages of a newspaper.
On the oOlh of April, 1819, the worthy editor of the
" Raleigh Register" introduced the subject to the notice
of his readers, acknowledging in an editorial article, that
it was not generally known to the world, but declaring
that he had it from most unquestionable authority, and
that he published it that it might go down to posterity.
This article was extensively copied in the papers of the
Union, and a copy of the " Essex Register " of Salem,
Massachusetts, being sent by the late John Adams to Mr.
1
2 INTRODUCTION.
Jefferson, provoked the following letter, which, as 1 am
about to make it the subject of a critical examination, I
shall here insert at length.
" TO JOHN ADAMS.
« Monticello, July 9, 1819.
" Dear Sir,
'• I am in debt to you for your letters of May the 21st,
" 27th, and June the 22d. The first, delivered me by
" Mr. Greenwood, gave me the gratification of his ac-
" quaintance ; and a gratification it always is, to be made
'' acquainted with gendemen of candor, worth, and infor-
'^ mation, as 1 found Mr. Greenwood to be. That on the
" subject of Mr. Samuel Adams Wells, shall not be
" forgotten in time and place, when it can be used to his
" advantage.
" But what has attracted my peculiar notice, is the
" paper from Mecklenburg county, of North Carolina,
" published in the ' Essex Register,' which you were so
'* kind as to enclose in your last, of June the 22d. And
" you seem to think it genuine. I believe it spurious.
*' I deem it to be a very unjustifiable quiz, like that of the
" volcano, so minutely related to us as having broken out
" in North Carolina, some half dozen years ago, in that
" part of the country, and perhaps in that very county of
" Mecklenburg, for I do not remember its precise locality.
" If this paper be really taken from the ' Raleigh Register,'
" as quoted, 1 wonder it should have escaped Ritchie,
" who culls what Is good from every paper, as the bee
" from every flower ; and the ' National Intelligencer,' too,
" which is edited by a North-Carolinian ; and that the
INTRODUCTION. 3
" fire should blaze out all at once in Essex, one thousand
" miles from where the spark is said to have fallen. But
" if really taken from the ' Raleigh Register,' who is the
" narrator, and is the name subscribed real, or is it as
" fictitious as the paper itself? It appeals, too, to an origi-
" nal book, which is burnt, to Mr. Alexander, who is
*' dead, to* a joint letter from Caswell, Hughes, and
" Hooper, all dead, to a copy sent to the dead Caswell,
" and another sent to Doctor Williamson, now probably
" dead, whose memory did not recollect, in the history he
" has written of North Carolina, this gigantic step of its
" county of Mecklenburg. Horry, too, is silent in his
" history of Marion, whose scene of action was the coun-
" try bordering on Mecklenburg. Ramsay, Marshall,
" Jones, Gerardin, Wirt, historians of the adjacent States
" all silent. When Mr. Henry's resolutions, far short of
" independence, flew like lightning through every paper,
" and kindled both sides of the Atlantic, this flaming de-
" claration of the same date, of the independence of Meck-
" lenburg county, of North Carolina, absolving it from the
" British allegiance, and abjuring all political connexion
'« with that nation, although sent to Congress, too, is never
" heard of. It is not known even a twelvemonth after,
" when a similar proposition is first made in that body.
'' Armed with this bold example, would not you have ad-
" dressed our timid brethren in peals of thunder, on their
" tardy fears ? Would not every advocate of indepen-
" dence have rung the glories of Mecklenburg county, in
" North Carolina, in the ears of the doubting Dickinson
" and others, who hung so heavily on us ? Yet the ex-
" ample of independent Mecklenburg county, in North
^^ Carolina, was never once quoted. The paper speaks,
4 INTRODUCTION.
" too, of the continued exertions of their delegation (Cas-
" well, Hooper, Hughes,) 'in the cause of liberty and
" independence.' Now you remember as well as 1 do,
" that we had not a greater tory in Congress than Hooper ;
" that Hughes was very wavering, sometimes firm, sonle-
" times feeble, according as the day was clear or cloudy ;
'' that Caswell, indeed, was a good whig, and kept these
^' gentlemen to the notch, while he was present ; but that
*' he left us soon, and their line of conduct became dien
" uncertain until Penn came, who fixed Hughes, and the
" vote of the State. I must not be understood as suggest-
*' ing any doubtfulness in the State of North Carolina.
*' No State was more fixed or forward. Nor do I affirm,
" positively, that this paper is a fabrication : because the
" proof of a negative can only be presumptive. But I
" shall believe it such until positive and solemn proof of its
"authenticity shall be produced. And if the name of
" McKnilt be real, and not a part of the fabrication. It
" needs a vindication by the production of such proof.
" For the present, I must be an unbeliever in the apocry-
" phal gospel.
" I am glad to learn that Mr. Ticknor has safely re-
" turned to his friends ; but should have been much more
" pleased had he accepted the Professorship in our Uni-
'' verslty, which we should have offered him in form.
" Mr. Bowditch, too, refuses us ; so fascinating is the
" vinculum of the dulce natale solum. Our wish is to pro-
" cure natives, where they can be found, like these gen-
" tlemen, of the first order of acquirement in their re-
" spective lines ; but preferring foreigners of the first
" order to natives of the second, we shall certainly have
" to go, for several of our Professors, to countries more
" advanced in science than we are.
INTRODUCTION. 5
" I set out within three or four days for my other home,
" the distance of which, and its cross mails, are great
" impediments to epistolary communications. I shall
" remain there about two months ; and there, here, and
** every where, I am and shall always be, affectionately
*' and respectfully yours.
" Th : Jefferson."
It will be observed that Mr. Jefferson doubts not only
the truth of the Mecklenburg Declaration, but the sincerity
of the publication in the " Essex Register," purporting
to be an extract from the Raleigh paper. He thinks it a
most unjustifiable quiz, and compares it to the volcano
which once broke out in the papers of North Caroli-
na. He thinks it absolutely false, because it escaped
the dim observation of his friend Mr. Ritchie, whose
curiosity in the history of North Carolina was never
before heard of or even suspected. His only interest in
the State is to be found on the subscription-list of the
" Enquirer," a paper which is but seldom adorned with any
thing relating to North Carolina, except the report of
political meetings, in which Virginia and her sons are
lauded. If the ''Raleigh Register" had published an
article in favor of any of the various principles of the Vir-
ginia school of politics, it would have been found on the
front column of the next " Enquirer," with some word of
hurra for the old North State. But every thing apper-
taining to the dignity of the good old North State is care-
fully kept out of sight, and every political movement
contrary to the decree of the Richmond Junto, is hinted
at as Federalism, Monarchy, or Treason. For my own
part, I am willing, thus publicly, to lament the dominant
1*
6 INTRODUCTION.
influence of the Vir2;Inia Republican party over the state of
North Carolina. I do look upon it as the most fatal stroke
ever aimed at the dignity and honor of my own country,
and I would willingly lay the first stone of a Chinese wall
to divide for ever the physical and intellectual resources of
the two states.
Mr. Jefferson in his letter admits, that, if this Mecklen-
burg declaration of independence is true, it is entitled to
far greater applause than the celebrated resolutions of Mr.
Henry, •' which flew like lightning through every paper,
and kindled both sides of the Atlantic." " Would not
" every advocate of independence," he exclaims, " have
" sung the glories of Mecklenburg county, in the ears of
" the doubting Dickinson and others, who hung so heavily
" on us ! " I rejoice, that he gave this public and most ex-
plicit testimony, as to its importance, and shall claim for
the heroes of the 20th of May, 1775, the high rank which
they deserve on the page of American history.
But the most astonishing part of this letter is its gross
abuse of the chnracter of William Hooper, one of the
Signers of the National Declaration of Independence from
North Carolina. I cannot account for it in any way.
I have corresponded with e\ery living contemporary of
Mr. Hooper, and invited a true opinion as to his charac-
ter, and in every instance have received in the most un-
qualified terms the most favorable notices of his political
standing. 1 have myself questioned every old man and old
woman from Cape Hatteras to the Blue Ridge, and have
never heard a single word which would support the shame-
ful calumny of*' rank toryism."
During the session of the General Assembly of North
Carolina, in 1830 and 1S31, this letter of Mr. Jefferson
INTRODUCTION. 7
attracted the notice of that body, and the Governor was
aiuliorized to publish a pamphlet in defence of the State.
This paper appeared during the year 1831, and contained
numerous depositions of living men, as to the truth of the
Mecklenburg Declaration. Personal testimony, however,
is always weak, as the memory of man is fallible ; and
although a citizen of North Carolina, acquainted with the
high character of the deponents, may be entirely satisfied
with such testimony, yet a distant historian will demand
some contemporary record, as the best evidence in the
case. The State of North Carolina, then, and Thomas
Jefferson are at issue as to the truth of the asseverations
contained in this letter. I shall go into the investigation
of the merits of this controversy with no other view than
the defence of the State by the ascertainment and exhibi-
tion of truth, and shall feel myself at liberty to animad-
vert with the most perfect freedom where animadversion
is necessary. Disposed as I am to yield all due applause
to Mr. Jefferson for whatever services he may have ren-
dered to his country, I shall nevertheless studiously avoid
any of that idolatrous homage to his name, without which
I am aware my orthodoxy will he disputed.
If, therefore, in the course of my research, I shall find
deliberate error in his opinion, I shall not hesitate to cry
aloud and spare not, — for the matters touched on in his
letter are grave and important, and upon the truth of them
the honor of the State is at stake, 1 am perfectly pre-
pared for the consequences of this course, and anticipate,
without the slightest apprehension, all those epithets which
it is usual to apply to every writer who assails the charac-
ter of the dead. I esteem the reputation of Mr. Hooper,
however, as sacred as the most slavish worshipper of Mr.
g INTRODUCTION.
Jefferson can esteem that of his master, and am not willing
that North Carolina should submit to insult from any
quarter, whether consecrated by the solemnities of the
tomb or the idolatry of the people. I yield no faith what-
ever to the contents of the four volumes of his writings.
Private and political scandal, truth, religion, infideli-
ty, federalism, republicanism, and Jacobinism, are all
conglomerated there, — as if the Sage of IMonticello had
devoted the whole evening of his life to the collection and
endorsement of principles of every kind, from the purest
tenet of religion to the most disgusting absurdity of the
basest and most abandoned profligacy. And yet, dispute
one word of the four volumes of this political Koran, or
doubt, for a moment, the immaculate purity of the charac-
ter of its author, and you have not only all the rabble of
the celestial empire, but all the great Images of the
Prophet, who have gone or are going into |X)wer, on the
strength of his name, roaring out Aristocracy, Federal-
ism, Nullification, or any other unpopular word, suited
to sustain them in their places. It may be confidently
asserted, that the whole range of history does not exhibit
an instance of baser subserviency, not only of many, as
individuals, but of the nation at large, — than the over-
powering influence of the mere name of Jefferson. Such
is its amazing pow'er, that no party of the present day
aspires to popular favor through any other channel, and
National Republican, as well as Jackson, Bucktail, and
Anti-bucktail, all piously claim for their priesthood the
purest legitimacy of descent. Tlie people have placed
him upon the throne of public opinion, and the statue of
Washington is burnt, broken, and scattered into fragments.
It is lime to have done with this delusion. The lives of
INTRODUCTION. 9
the eminent and patriotic, whose biographies have not
been Written, should be studied and examined with an
especial view to correct the errors, conspicuous from one
end to the other of " the writings of Jefferson." If the
pen of their calumniator is to perform this task, and his
works go down to posterity as truth, the patriots of our
revolution will be ranked by posterity, not as American
statesmen, but as traitors to their country. The names of
Washington, Hamilton, Richard Henry Lee, Marshall,
Story, Henry Lee, Bayard, and a host of others, com-
prising the talents civil and military of the whole Union,
are the companions of William Hooper in the almost
universal calumny of his pen.
This letter, then, assails the character of North Carolina,
by grossly abusing the reputation and fame of one of her
most distinguished and beloved sons, and by doubting in a
sneering and contemptuous manner, one of the most honor-
able events in her history. The disclaimer of "any doubt-
fulness in the State of North Carolina," instead of soften-
ing the asperity of the charges, imparts a deeper malignity
and stamps its charitableness with duplicity. If William
Hooper was a tory, and North Carolina commissioned
him to sign, on her behalf, the national Declaration of
Independence, the State and the Delegate were alike
sinful. If the staunch whigs, Caswell and Penn, permitted
their associate to play the double part of a tory in Con-
gress and a whig at home, they, too, must share the load of
iniquity, and be condemned, notwithstanding the approba-
tion of Mr. Jefferson. The indiscriminate publication of
Mr. Jefferson's writings has been deprecated by many of
his friends, and even his most devoted servants are cautious
in subscribing to so voluminous a creed. In private
10 INTRODUCTION.
moments devoted to the interchange of confidential opin-
ions, few politicians have ventured to support the propriety
of their publication, or the truth of their contents. On
two occasions already the veracity of their author has been
successfully questioned. The friend * of Bayard, and the
descendant of General Lee, have each controverted the
truth of his statements, and while the Journals of the
Senate of the United States will serve as an imperishable
monument of the innocence of the one, a volume dis-
tinguished for its ingenuity and severity will support the
abused reputation of the other. Ambitious of a similar
distinction, and possessing ample materials for such a task,
I shall endeavour, in this volume, to vindicate the charac-
ter of my native State from the sly insinuations and malig-
nant aspersion of his "philosophic pen." The labor is
simple and easy, — the reward, the gratification of my
own feelings in contributing an humble mite to uphold the
dignity of North Carolina and the fame of many of her
v/orthiest sons. In the performance of the duty thus
assumed, prudence would induce me to lament the posi-
tion of the parties. Throughout one of the most violent
party wars, that ever agitated our country, North Carolina
firmly supported those political principles, the success of
which lifted Mr. Jefferson above the heads of his asso-
ciates, and made his posthumous slanders respectable.
By his superior dexterity as a party leader, he contrived
to command the servitude of many of my fellow citizens,
* In the spring of 1830, Mr. Clayton, of Delaware, called upon Mr.
Livingston and General Smith, to say whether the charge of Mr.
Jefferson against Bayard was true, they having been cited by their
great master, as authority. Both gentlemen stoutly denied any
knowledge of the circumstance.
INTRODUCTION. j j
who were independent of every other power but the influ-
ence of his name, which gave them popularity and prefer-
ment. I may lament the wide difference of opinion which
exists between such of my fellow citizens and myself, but
I owe no respect to the idol whom they worshipped, nor
do I reverence his decrees.
My volume will be divided into three parts. The first
will comprise a compendious history of the Revolution in
North Carolina to the period of the national Declaration of
Independence. The second will be found to contain the
most indisputable evidence of the truth of the Mecklenburg
Declaration, as well as of the authenticity of the resolves
now denominated the Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde-
pendence. The third and last chapter will be devoted to
the defence of the character of William Hooper. He is
denounced by Mr. Jefferson as the rankest tory in the
Congress of Seventy-six. I shall contradict this naked
assertion by a short sketch of his political character, and
illustrate his patriotism by an exhibition of many of his
private letters, written during the term of his service in the
continental Congress.
The reader who shall follow me through my undertaking
will acknowledge the inutility of Mr. Jefferson's disclaimer,
that there was no doubtfulness in North Carolina. The
history of the State is unknown. The great events of her
annals are buried amidst the musty papers of her ancient
families, and are not celebrated by the " historians of the
adjacent States," because they were ignorant or careless of
their existence. The object of many of the writers on
American history, like that of Gerardin and Wirt, was to
exalt some particular character, by assuming for their
heroes the laurels which should have been awarded to the
j2 INTRODUCTION.
merit of their contemporaries. Who could have expected
the biographer of Patrick Henry, and the disciple of Mr.
Jefferson, while composing a work with a view of establish-
ing the Virginian origin of our national independence, to
have introduced his readers to such an event as that of the
Mecklenburg Declaration, or the resolution of the provincial
Congress of North Carolina, adopted on the 12th of April,
177G, instructing the delegates of the State in the conti-
nental Congress to declare " Independency." The know-
ledge of these facts would have rendered the work of Mr.
Wirt ridiculous, and that of Gerardin what it is, — a silly
and contemptible libel upon the character of history.
The letter of Mr. Jefferson reposes especial confidence in
the circumstance, that no mention of the Mecklenburg
declaration is made by Ramsay, Marshall, Jones, Gerardin,
or Wirt, — "historians of the adjacent States." Who is
or was Gerardin .f^ — "A man of letters," undoubtedly,
as he wrote the History of Virginia, before he had lived in
the country long enough to learn the fallibility of Mr.
Jefferson's testimony, and who gathered all he did write
from the oracle of Monticello. A French emigrant who
traversed the State of Virginia, as a pedagogue, and
who wrote his history for the low purpose of flattering the
vanity, and apologizing for the cowardice, of one of her
most distinguished sons.
What confidence is to be placed in the statements of
such a man f Are historical facts involved in the annals
of another people to be doubted, because they are not
noticed in the productions of an author, who depended
upon another even for the plan of his operations, and who
was grossly ignorant even of the people whose history he
had the impudence to write } Gerardin may have been
liNTRODUCTION. 13
good authority on the language or ^^ frivolous amusements "
of France, but I shall presume to question his pages on
American history, whenever they are contradicted by any
other authority. Ignorant as he was of the early settle-
ment and traditions of the country, he was unfit for the
task he assumed, in the execution of which he lost the
respectable and independent character of an instructor, to
become the hireling scribbler of Mr. Jefferson. His whole
work is but the echo of his patron, and was no doubt com-
posed to cover the conspicuous sins of Governor Jefferson.
The object of Mr. Wirt, who derived his materials from
Mr. Jefferson, was to concentrate in Virginia, through the
instrumentality of his subject and his patron, the glory of
conceiving and establishing the independence of the coun-
try. Both of these historians of the adjacent state were
indebted to Mr. Jefferson for manuscript materials, and
issued their volumes under the sanction of his name.
Gerardin's work is especially recommended as containing
a faithful history of his administration as governor of Vir-
ginia, and the subsequent publication of his " Wriungs "
inconteslably establishes a most intimate agency even in the
composition of the " Life of Patrick Henry." "^
The letter of Mr. Jefferson suggests against the Meck-
lenburg Declaration, that the memory of Dr. Williamson
did not recollect, in the history he had written of North
Carolina, this gigantic step of its county of Mecklenburg.
Observing the tenor of this remark, I do not hesitate to say,
that the pages of Williamson w^ere never perused by the
Sage of Monticello, for any other purpose than the ascer-
tainment of the fact which he has stated. But if he had ever,
* See Writings of Jefferson, Vol. I. p. 95.
2
14 INTRODUCTION.
at any period of his life, perused, even in the most negli-
gent manner, the pages of that audior, I must charge him
with the grossest hypocrisy. The work of Williamson is
superior only to that of Gerardin, and absolutely inferior
to every other production on American history. The
Doctor never intended to write the history of North Caro-
lina, from the earliest periods to the administration of Mr.
Jefferson, or any other President, but left it at the sup-
pression of the Regulation, in 1771. The work is finished
off with a dissertation on the fevers which prevailed in
the State, during the residence of the author ; and a mere
notice of the administration of Governor Martin, the last
of the Royal governors, with an allusion in general terms
to the causes which drove him out of the state, — is the
only sketch of the revolution to be found in the two vol-
umes of Williamson. Would any reader of history consult
such a book to prove or condemn the truth of an event
which took place four years after the date of its conclu-
sion f The Mecklenburg Declaration was made on the
20th of May, 1775, and Williamson, concluding the de-
tails of his history at a period four years earlier, if he
recollected, did not think it prudent to anticipate it, in a
narrative, the composition of which he intended to bring
down to the year 1790. Ill health fortunately prevented
the continuation of a work, which reflected no lustre either
on the author or the subject.
The circumstance of Ramsay and Marshall composing
laborious treatises on the history of the Revolution, and
not recording this " gigantic step of the county of Meck-
lenburg," is no evidence that the step was never taken,
but only that the fact was not recorded in any of the his-
tories of the day. I am perfectly convinced that neither
INTRODUCTION. 15
of these distinguished writers was ever satisfied of the
truth of the fact; but in North Carolina, we all know that
Williamson was in the possession of a copy of the pro-
ceedings of the people of Mecklenburg, for many years
before he died. Had he continued his work, the Meck-
lenburg Declaration would undoubtedly have occupied its
proper place in the annals of the state, and have been as
well known as any other event recorded by his pen. Nor
is the truth of the Mecklenburg Declaration to be ques-
tioned on the ground of the silence of contemporary authors.
Many of the proudest events of our history are but the
visions of pride or prejudice, if this principle is to be
adopted. Upon it each and every event of the revolutionary
history of North Carolina must be condemned as apocry-
phal. The native historians of the United States, whenever
they have touched upon the history of that state, have either
drawn from the records of the adjacent states, or the pages
of Tarleton's "Campaigns," which enumeration affords
a fair estimate of their materials. If any fact of American
history is true, it is, that on the 1 2th of April, 1776, the Con-
gress of North Carolina " empowered their delegates to de-
clare independency," and yet Horry, in his life of Marion, is
silent, Ramsay, Marshall, Jones, Gerardin, and Wirt, histo-
rians of the adjacent states, all are likewise silent. Nor did
even the memory of Doctor Williamson in the history, he
wrote of North Carolina, recollect this gigantic step of the
state. The reasons, upon which Mr. Jefferson doubts the
Mecklenburg Declaration, are shallow, and the language,
with which he chooses to express his suspicions, are indic-
ative of a jealous and malignant spirit.
A national declaration of independence was first recom-
mended by the Provincial Congress of North Carolina,
jg INTRODUCTION.
and yet the state pride or ignorance of the historians of
he adjacent states has attribntcd this high honor to
Virginia. Prudence should have induced Mr. Wirt, be-
fore he had assumed for his hero and his patron nil the
merit of inducing a national declaration, to examine
other sources of information than the manuscript furnished
by Mr. Jefferson. It is the duty, and the most sacred
duty, of the historian to preserve the integrity of history.
His sins, though they may be concealed for the present
by the influence of great names, will be exposed by the revo-
lution of time. The papers in the State department of North
Carolina would have taught the panegyrist of Virginia
the weakness of her claims to the honor of conceiving the
independence of the country, and have afforded him an op-
portunity of exhibiting an instance of the truth and can-
dor of history. In the archives of the state and the desks of
ancient families are now buried the story of the rise and pro-
gress of the state of North Carolina. Ignorance and
wickedness may misrepresent with impunity the character
of her history, if efforts are not made to break away the
darkness which surrounds it ; and such are the induce-
ments to this publication.
PART I.
A HISTORY OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOSIAH MARTIN, THE
LAST OF THE ROYAL GOVERNORS, AND THE DOWNFALL OF
THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT IN NORTH CAROLINA,
CHAPTER I.
In the course of the First Part of this volume, I shall in-
vite the attention of the reader to many events, which are
not to be found in the works of any of the " historians
of the adjacent states," but which depend for their truth
upon the more substantial evidence of contemporary author-
ity. I shall be obliged frequently to refer to private papers,
which I have been permitted to examine by the courtesy
of friends, and hope that my effort to vindicate our com-
mon country will be a sufficient apology for the free and
copious extracts, which I shall take the liberty to introduce.
From the 3rd of April, 1765, to the 1st of July, 1771,
North Carolina was governed by William Tryon. Dur-
ing the whole term of his administration the public mind
was successively agitated by the passage of the Stamp
Act and the ravages of a civil war, known in the annals of
the state under the name of the Regulation. In the
course of that extraordinary rebellion, the public ear was
2*
13 THE CHARACTER OF
accustomed to the sound of war, and the military genius of
the people encouraged and exercised. It prepared the
young and ambitious for more important events, and was
the school, in which many of those of whom 1 shall write,
acquired the elements of a military education. Whilst
public opinion was thus forming, Josiah i\Jartin arrived in
New Berne, and on the llih of August, 1771, assumed
the government of the province. It is from this period,
that I shall commence a history of the Revolution in
North Carolina, which I shall bring down to the 4th of
July, 1776. The rise of the Revolution, the most instruc-
tive portion of our history, will be sketched, and the pro-
gress of the war detailed to a day illustrious as the birth-
day of our national independence.
The administration of Governor Tryon is an important
period in the history of the state ; and his private charac-
ter is so much identified v/ith many of the remarkable
events of that day, that I shall pause for a few moments
to canvass his merits as a civil and military officer. I
shall subject him to a most rigid scrutiny, nor shall even
the lovely and accomplished females of his family, his lady
and her sister. Miss Esther Wake, escape that vigilant ob-
servation, which a faithful historian on all such occasions
will always exercise. The proverbial influence of the
fair sex, in matters of state, was well sustained by these two
noble ladies; and the enthusiasticgallantry of a warm-heart-
ed people estimated the character of their Governor, by
the grace, beauty, and accomplishment, that adorned the
domestic circle of his palace.
For the first two years of Tryon's administration, his
head-quarters were on the Cape Fear, and during this
time too the people of the province were engaged in a
GOVERNOR TRYON. ]9
violent opposition to the Stamp Act. It is in moments of
peril, that the real character of a governor is best exhib-
ited, and I shall select this as one of ihe two periods of his
government, the discussion of which will best illustrate
his merits as a civil and military officer. It was on the
10th of March, 1764,* that Parliament resolved to raise a
revenue in the colonies, and during the same year Tryon
was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of North Carolina.
It seemed as if the Bedford ministry had appointed him
the Governor of the province to second, with the energy
of a military officer, the dangerous project of imposing
and collecting a system of colonial taxes. In these prim-
itive resolutions, the propriety and mere abstract right
of charging stamps were avowed in a distinct, substantive
resolve, and were not incorporated into the act, which sub-
sequently passed both Houses of Parliament, and on the
5th of the succeeding April received the assent of the
King. The passage of this act aroused the suspicions of
the colonies, and we find the popular House of the Assem-
bly of North Carolina, on the 31st of October, 1764, some
months before Tryon's assumption of the government, en-
gaged in a quarrel with Governor Dobbs on its injustice
and unconstitutionality. In their address of that date they
say, " We observe our commerce circumscribed in its most
beneficial branches, diverted from its natural channel,
and burthened with new taxes and impositions laid on us
without our privity or consent, and against what we es-
teem our inherent right and exclusive privilege of impos-
ing our own taxes."
* Force's National Calendar, p. 13.
20 THE CHARACTER OF
To which Governor Dobbs replied ; " As to the
other paragraphs of your address, as they have no
reference to or are consistent with what I had recom-
mended to you for your consideration, I shall return
you no answer, but must only observe, that I know of no
heavy tax attending the exports of this province, and
therefore your complaint and excuse for not securing
your navigation is without foundation." *
In these disputes Tryon did not feel bound to take an
active part ; but the death of Governor Dobbs, on the 28th
of March, 1765, left him at the head of the government,
and no alternative but the support of the policy of the
ministry. Independent of this quarrel on the subject
of the legislation of Parliament, he inherited others of a
still more serious nature from his predecessor. Ever since
the great Enfield riot, w^hich took place in the year 1759,
the peace of the province had been disturbed by the
ravages of mo65, and Tryon might well lament the difficul-
ties of his situation in the general storm, which was gather-
ing around him. The imbecility of Dobbs had encourag-
ed the factious and discontented ; and when his successor
endeavoured to sustain the law against their disorders, he
found them ready to resist with arms the very authority
of the government. The oppressive taxes growing out of
the French war, and the knavery of the officers of the law,
were the subjects of their complaints, and out of this state
of things grew the Regulation.
Lieutenant-Governor Tryon having been inaugurated
Commander-in-chief of the province on the 3rd of April,
1765, met his first Assembly one month after the com-
* Journal of the Assembly, 1764.
GOVERNOR TRYON. 21
menceaient of his power. The public mind was much
disturbed by rumors and reports from the North, that the
Stamp Act had been passed by Parliament. This intel-
ligence reached Wilmington shortly after the meeting of
the Assembly ; and such was the violence exhibited by the
Members of the popular House, that Governor Tryon sud-
denly prorogued the legislative body, on the iSth of the
same month, in which it had assembled. The popular
House had but just replied to the opening speech of the
Governor, and adopted the usual preliminary steps of le-
gislation. Such was the excitement produced by the in-
telligence, that the Governor apprehended an oveit act of
treason ; and, to arrest the disease in its incipient stage, he
prorogued the Assembly. That Governor Tryon was
much alarmed is most obvious from the fact, that he was
afraid to meet another Assembly during the existence of
the Stamp law. He was famed as an officer of undaunt-
ed courage, a gentleman of rank and honor, and may have
recognised, in the violent zeal of the members of the popu-
lar House, an admonition not to be slighted, because it was
the impulse of freedom. The Speaker of the popular
House, John Ashe, pledged himself that he would resist
the iniquitous law, and informed the Governor, that the
people would support him in the holy cause. But for the
prorogation of this Assembly, the attitude of the popular
party represented by the popular House, would not have
been less treasonable in the eyes of royalty, than was the
Mecklenburg Convention.
The attitude, which the popular House would have
taken, had the Governor permitted it to organize itself on
the 30th of November, the day to which it was prorogued,
would not have been less exceptionable. The elements
22 THE CHARACTER OF
af revolution inherent in every community had been agita-
ted, and were in motion, under the banner of chivalry and
liberty. The Wliig party had strengthened by the death of
Governor Dohbs. Many of his coadjutors had been- for
years wearied with the insincere characters they were
obliged to sustain to uphold an officer, to whom they were
indebted for patronage and personal kindness. Colonel
Waddell, who had hitherto belonged to the government par-
ty, was now zealous in the cause of the people, and even
the relatives of the late Governor abandoned the princi-
ples of their patron and embraced the orthodox faith of
the day. It is difficult at this period to say to what ex-
tent the denunciations of the whig party, which had grown
up under the heaviness of the French war, and the do-
mestic oppressions of the Courts and land agents, were car-
ried. The royal party upbraided their conduct as treason,
and contended that such language as prevailed was a vio-
lation of the oath of allegiance, a point of honor upon
which, in every age, tyrants and slaves are tenacious.
The people of the counties of Orange, Anson, Mecklen-
burg, and Granville, who had loudly complained against
previous oppressions, now demanded of their fellow-citi-
zens an acknowledgment of the truth of their predictions.
Ti)ey loudly called for immediate action; and, if that sec-
tion of the state could have presented a single advocate of
the Stamp Act, more respectable than a profligate and
skulking attorney, or a menial slave of power, there would
have been an overt act of war.
At the instance of the House of Representatives of
Massachusetts, a General Congress of the Provinces con-
vened in New York in the month of October. New-
Hampshire, Rhode Island, North Carolina, and Georgia
GOVERNOR TRYON. 23
were not represented in that body. North Carolina had
no opportunity of electing delegates. The rash proro-
gation of the Assembly, and the refusal of the Governor
to convene any other session, were the obvious causes of
her not appearing on that occasion. The proposition of-
Massachusetts was to appoint committees from the popular
Houses of each provincial legislative body, and a delegate
coming with credentials directly from the people would
not probably have been acknowledged. In November,
176G, in the first Assembly which met after the prorogation,
the popular House regretted the long chasm in legislative
action, because the province had not been able to act in
concert with the sister colonies. This long chasm in
legislation, however, was beneficial to the people in a pe-
cuniary point of view. The Assembly had been prorogued
before any of the usual tax-bills were proposed, and the
Governor wisely determined to play the part of an econo-
mist in the rnidst of so much trouble. The Courts and
officers, too, were honest and gentle througli fear, and not
an agent could be found to do the duty of his office.
In the course of the summer, great riots occurred in the
county of JVlecklenburg in consequence of an effi^rt by " an
agent of an agent " of a Mr. Selwyn, who had by some
legerdemain acquired sufficient title to certain lands in that
county to appoint an agent. This is one of the very few
disturbances which occurred in die province during the
years 1765 and 1766, which had no connexion with
the Stamp Act. It is not possible to distinguish the different
and distinct causes operating to excite the public mind
during this period. The old Whig party was more violent
under additional oppression, and the converts to their
cause soon embraced the opinions and joined in the pro-
24 THE CHARACTER OF
ceedings, which they once affected to despise as treason-
able. An amalgamation of all parties was brought about
by the passage of that fortunate bill. The people of
North Carolina were never before so unanimous. The
people of the United States were not so unanimous on the
question of independence, as they were on the propriety of
resisting the Stamp Act, nor are we ever likely again to
exhibit in our history, the grand spectacle of an entirely
united people. There was not even a " douhiing Dick-
inson " to be found, whose doubtfulness could be suggest-
ed with any shade of truth by the meanest authority of that
day. All joined in giving a solemn assurance to the moth-
er country, that the colonies would not be forcibly tax-
ed, an assurance which was nobly, though not unanimous-
ly, enforced, and which achieved the freedom of America.
During the year 1765 meetings were held in various sec-
tions of the province to consult for the public good. In
New Berne, Richard Cogdell, and on the Cape Fear,
John Ashe, John Walker, and Colonel Hugh Waddell
were the principal leaders. This last gentleman first
discovered the approach of the Stamp ship, and to him
we are indebted for a vigorous opposition to her approach-
es. He was an officer of great reputation during the
French war, and commanded a regiment of Southern
soldiers at the defeat of General Braddock. During the
life of Governor Dobbs he was a zealous supporter of the
measures of his government, and had thus become some-
what unpopular among the Whigs of that day. On the
death of his old friend, however, he deserted the govern-
ment party and became one of the most active opponents
of the Stamp Act and other measures, opposition to
which was the test of sound principles. On gaining in-
GOVERNOR TRYON. 25
formation of the approach of the vStamp ship. Colonel
Waddell commenced collecting armed men, and despatch-
ing messengers to disseminate the intelligence. In a few
days Colonel John Ashe, whose Carolina feeling was pro-
verbial, had embodied a company of the Militia of New
Hanover, and held himself ready for battle. The Procla-
mation of Governor Tyron on the 6th of January, announc-
ed the arrival of the Stamp ship and instructed all persons
authorized to distribute stamps, to make application to
the commander of the ship.
The officer of the ship had not been an anxious appli-
cant for the privilege of holding the stamps. Before the
last word of the Governor's Proclamation was echoed
back, by tlie few nameless tools that waited around the
mushroom table of his patronage, the companies of
Colonels Ashe and Waddell were watching the movements
of the ship from the town of Brunswick. The timid
officer of the suspicious craft prudently submitted to the
terms of his besiegers, and promised to observe a holyday
of several days, to determine on a subsequent course.
The two popular leaders then started off for Wilmington,
which was the head- quarters of the Governor. A Mr.
James Houston, who was the intended Stamp-master, was
an inmate of the Governor's house. Colonel Ashe on
his arrival gathered together a large concourse of people,
and in a tumultuous manner proceeded to the Governor's
residence in quest of the Stamp-master. He was sent
for to come to the door, when the Governor refused to
allow the claims of such a body to an audience with
Houston, and adhered to his resolution, until a threat to
burn the house was nearly executed. The official dignity
of Governor Tryon shrunk into submission before the in-
3
26 THE CHARACTER OF
tr^pidity of Colonel Ashe. His blustering exhortations,
and pompous threats of the vengeance of the King, were
without power or effect among the people, when under
the command of an officer distinguished for his defence of
their rights in every crisis. The fiery impetuosity of the
Colonel, aided by the enthusiasm of the whole people,
soon brought the Stamp-master to the test of loyalty.
The favorite of the government was led out of the em-
braces of the subdued Governor, and conducted to the
market, where in the presence of the people he swore a
solemn oath never to perform the duties of his office.
Such are the details of an event highly honorable to the
spirit of the people of North Carolina. But for the vig-
ilance of Colonel Waddell, the Stamp ship might have
landed a few cases of its odious freight, before the people
could have collected for resistance. A few of the stamps
might have been distributed and for the sake of a loyal
name, been used too, by some worthless lacquey of the
Governor of a province. But the patriotism of Waddell
gave notice of their arrival ; and ere the Governor's Proc-
lamation announced the event, the two champions of the
people were ready in the field. It is with feelings of pride
and pleasure, that I recount the deeds of so worthy a son
of North Carolina as Colonel Ashe. His name is one of
the oldest and proudest in the annals of the state, and is
still illustrious by the beauty and worth that adorn it.
Love of the people was not then what it is now, the con-
stant song of unprincipled demagogues. It was a virtue
which but kw possessed, and still fewer openly avowed.
The terror of the Governor's displeasure extinguished the
dimmest spark in the bosom of a Councillor, while the more
dreaded frowns of Majesty itself were threatened on every
GOVERNOR TRYON. 27
popular recusant. All of these pompous denunciations
were laid in store for Colonel Ashe by the mercenary-
party of the Government. Amidst the enthusiastic love
of his countrymen, however, they did not even quicken the
natural sensitiveness of his mind. The banks of the
Cape Fear have been prolific in great names. One of
the companions of Colonel Ashe deserves to share with
him every tribute of reverence, which posterity may pay.
Maurice Moore was early distinguished by his zeal in the
cause of the people. He was, however, more of a student
than a soldier, and had already acquired at the bar of the
province, the reputation of an eloquent advocate and an
honest attorney. Of Colonels Waddeil and Ashe and Mr.
Moore there can be no question but that Governor Tryon
had great and serious apprehension. Colonel Ashe was
irresistible among the people, and was a host within him-
self. Colonel Waddeil delighted in war, for it was his pro-
fession ; and he commanded the sympathies of the people
of Brunswick. He could march them to battle against
the Stamp Act ; he might do so against the Governor.
Maurice Moore was a man of weight and consideration in
the community in which he lived, as well as at the Bar.
He would indeed have been an ornament to any society ;
and although he lived at a period when personal courage
and influence outshone the lustre of a great mind, still he
grew into the affections of the people, and was one of
their most influential leaders. These three names are still
conspicuous in North Carolina for exalted worth, and still
retain that confidence and affection of the people, which
formerly distinguished their ancestors.
Notwithstanding the repealed provocations of these
three citizens, offered as it were, in defiance and in derision
28 THE CHARACTER OF
of the authority of the Governor, this threatened re-
sentment expired with the repeal of the Stamp Act. To
such men Tryon could condescend to explain the motives
of his conduct, and to implore their forbearance as the
only means of preserving peace and order. The flatter-
ing compliment of a request to aid him in the trying
duties of his station was lavished, and vainly lavished, on
each ; nor could they be persuaded to accept even the
friendship of his Excellency, when it might induce an ob-
ligation of support. Such temptations could not fascinate
the minds of such men from the exercise of their most
sacred right, and the performance of their most sacred
duty. They despised the officer, who could hope to
seduce them by corruption, veiled under the offices of
friendship ; and insulted with less reluctance the authority,
to which they had proved, by example, they were physical-
ly superior. The power of the government without the
indispensable nourishment of the usual aid bills, had
dwindled into subordination to the active influence of the
popular leaders, and the pride of the haughty Tryon was
limited to the preservation of the empty pageant of official
dignity. Finding himself vanquished on all sides, and the
government, which he filled, on the eve of dissolution, he
adopted the desperate resolution of reducing the power of
Colonel Ashe, by mixing familiarly with the people in the
hope that his condescension would turn their minds, and
enable him to supplant his adversary in their confidence
and love.
The efforts of the Governor personally to conciliate the
people, were not more successful than would have been
the employment of a regiment of soldiers. The art of
pleasing the people is the same faculty that immortalized
the Gracchi of Rome, and the restless ambition of Gover-
GOVERNOR TRYON. 29
nor Tryon was not content with a less considerable char-
acter for example in bis new vocation. Feasts and routs
were prepared for the people, to illustrate bis liberality
and condescension ; but on all such occasions he impru-
dently or ignorantly neglected to lay aside the unpopular
accompaniments of his office, so strongly indicative of
arrogance and pride. He was an easy victim in the hands
of Colonel Ashe in such a contest. The Colonel himself,
being an officer of the militia, was not without the disad-
vantage of official insignia. Possessing an elegant and
noble figure, well fitted to exhibit to effect the gorgeous
uniform of his rank, his friends and companions boasted
that he outshone the Governor himself. In the month of
February of the year sixty-six, a period when this ridicu-
lous rivalry was at its height, a large muster of the militia
of New Hanover was held in Wilmington. The Gover-
nor had prepared a plentiful repast for the people, and,
according to the accounts of that day, had barbecued a
bull, and placed it on the table as one dish. The supe-
rior influence of Colonel Ashe over any odier individual
of that section of the state is well exhibited in the disposi-
tion, which the people under his influence made of the
sumptuous repast. The appearance of the Governor all
will admit, must have been more interesting to the mass of
the people with the parade that encircled his person.
When the feast was announced as ready, the people rush-
ed in a body to the table, and in a tumultuous manner
upset the barrels of liquors which had been provided, and
seizing the bull, they hurled the barbecued monster into
the river. The mortification of the Governor was too
intense to await the slow cure of time, and he retired to
his house dejected and discomfited. The whole day was
3 *
30 THE CHARACTER OF
one continued scene of riot and tumult. Tiyon, amidst
this confusion and strife, was prudently lounging in hrs
parlour, while his parasites and minions were reciting, or
rather clamoring in interrupted accents, the recollected
portions of the ''^ Riot Act,^'' How contemptible must
have appeared at this titne the pompous airs which his
Excellency always assumed. Never was the contempt of
a people for an individual adorned with the attributes of
power more conspicuously exhibited, nor so degrading a
punishment prescribed for the insolence of authority. The
supremacy of Colonel Ashe could no longer be question-
ed, and although William Tryon was the King's governor,
the people more willingly acknowledged the authority, as
well as the merit, of another.
Some time during the fall of the year 1765, a duel was
fought on the banks of the Cape Fear, between a captain
and his lieutenant, in which the former fell. He was a rela-
tive of Lady Tryon's, and the Governor exerted all his influ-
ence to ensure the conviction of the survivor. The cause of
the duel was remotely connected with the exciting topics of
the day, and the sympathy of the people was aroused in fa-
vor of the lieutenant whom Tryon had thrown into prison.
He was tried, convicted, and condemned ; but the mercy
of Chief Justice Berry postponed the period for his execu-
tion to a distant day. By the connivance and assistance
of the people he made his escape, fled to England, was
pardoned, and restored to the bosom of his family. The
disappointment of Tryon in the gratification of his revenge
sought relief in suspicions of Judge Berry, whom he ac-
cused of an agency in the escape of the lieutenant. The
insinuations of the Governor, although they deeply and
incurably wounded the feelings of the amiable Judge,
GOVERNOR TRYON. 31
were not believed ; for the executive could not conceal,
under a zeal for the prosecution of an offender, the dis-
honorable feelings which prompted his hatred of the
presiding officer of the courr. The honesty of Judge
Berry was, however, lifted above his reach. He shortly
after the trial was summoned from Edenton circuit to
attend the Council board. The blustering and super-
cilious manner of Try on had not been more repulsive
to the people than to the Chief Justice ; nor was the
latter, by any selfish relaxation of the Governor's usual stiff-
ness, duped into an obedience to his wishes. Such was the
arrangement of the powers of the provincial government,
that, although the Chief Justice was independent of the
will of the Executive, yet the character of the former was
at the mercy of the latter, who by complaints and charges
preferred in a sly and secret manner, could reduce to dis-
grace the most unexceptionable judge. Such were the
apprehensions of Judge Berry, whose popularity was
already an object of suspicion in England. The decided
stand he took with the popular party in the administration
of Governor Dobbs had been managed by his enemies at
court to disparage his character. He knew that Tryon
had an opportunity, by connecting him with the distur-
bances which had occurred in the Province, to subject
him to a disgraceful censure from the King, and to effect
his recall. The notorious duplicity of the Governor in
framing a complaint, he well knew, would not hesitate to
attribute to his influence all the opposition of the people,
nor to disguise the real cause of the confidence and re-
spect he personally and officially enjoyed. Writhing under
the agony of these melancholy anticipations, his amiable
but sensitive mind shrunk into a fit of despair, in the mad-
ness of which he terminated his existence.
32 THE CHARACTER OF
Such was the lamented end of a life devoted to the
study of the law and to the cuhivalion of a pure moral
character. Comhining with the reputation of an upright
judge that of an amiable, hospitable, and generous citizen,
he enjoyed that reverence and love which his excellence
so signally deserved. His superior merit had been sent
to a wrong mart. Tn the province of North Carolina the
mild exertions of his power, as Chief Justice, but excited
the malice of the Governor, by rendering more conspicuous
the inconsistency of his own acts; nor would envy permit
him to enjoy without reproach that devotion of the people,
which was but the natural consequence of his virtuous and
upright conduct. His death was deeply deplored by the
people of the province, who reasonably expected as his
successor some minion of Tryon's, ambitious only of his
master's favor, and ready to forget both the dignity of
law and the rights of man. It is said of Tryon, that
already tired of the superior popularity of Judge Berry,
he now received the intelligence of his melancholy fate
with secret pleasure and an ostentatious indifference. On
such occasions the feelings exhibited will best illustrate
the real character of a man. His courtiers may have
complimented his indifference as firmness or stoical phi-
losophy. I shall not condescend to analyse the darkness
of his motives, or to investigate the causes which might
extenuate the enormity of his conduct. The vanity of
Tryon should ere this have been humbled by defeat and
shame. The rapid progress of successful opposition to
the stamp law throughout the province should have tamed
the turbulence of his spirit, and have softened his heart to
the complaints of the people. He well knew that the
great cause of their murmurs was his constant prorogation
GOVERNOR TRYON. 33
or dissolution of the Assembly, and that one session would
test the strength of the people and the weakness of the
royal party. The sedition at Wihnington drew much of
its violence from this cause ; and on that day Colonel Ashe,
irritated by the conduct of the Governor, suggested to
him ^' that he was afraid to convene the Assembly." Act-
ing under the fear or excitement of this remark, Tryon
issued a proclamation on the 26th of February, proro-
guing the Assembly, which was not to have convened until
the 22d of April, to the last of October. On the 13th of
June the Governor received official intelligence of the
act of the preceding March, repealing the Stamp Act, and
on the succeeding 25th issued a proclamation in the name
of the King. The proclamation embraced two distinct
positions, both alike calculated to captivate the enthusiasm
of the people. It prohibited, and censured as illegal and
disgraceful, the practice which had prevailed of charging
excessive fees; and in the second place, announced the
repeal of the Stamp Act. Such an opportunity was joy-
fully embraced by Tryon to conciliate a people, of whose
violence he had witnessed sufficient to learn the danger
of their opposidon or resentment.
On the next day after the appearance of the proclama-
tion, the authorities of the Borough of Wilmington address-
ed Governor Tryon with congratulations on the repeal of
the Stamp Act, and lamented the many misrepresentations
of their conduct which had reached the ear of his Excel-
lency. The Governor could not comprehend the mean-
ing of this latter allusion, and replied to them, that the only
exceptionable conduct of which they had been guilty, had
come directly under his own personal observation. The
mayor of the borough, assisted by many of the most re-
34 THE CHARACTER OF
spectable citizens, complained in a letter they addressed to
him of the injustice of his insinuation, and declared that
the commotions which had existed, arose from " a convic-
tion, that moderation ceased to be a virtue, when the
liberty of the British subject was in danger." This cor-
respondence which was terminated to the satisfaction of
the Governor, was, to speak with candor, more seditious
than the commotions which had occurred, and which had
undoubtedly come under the personal observation of
Tryon. The address, in the first instance, expressed
great affection for the effort which Parliament had made
to preserve the liberty of the people by relieving them
from oppression which they could not bear, and the com-
mentary to be found in the second letter, " on the virtue
of moderations'^ was not entirely consistent with the pre-
scribed loyalty of one of the people.
The other portion of our history, by the discussion of
which I propose to illustrate the character of Tryon, is
the history of the Regulation, — a maiden subject for the
pen of controversy, — and one upon which I shall be
found to differ from all the historians and pamphleteers of
the day.
In writing the history of that period of time involved in
commotion on the passage of the Stamp Act, I have almost
buried that of the Regulation under its incumbent and
more general importance. I shall now invite the attention
and consideration of the reader to a series of historical
papers which will be found to be extracts from the rare
and curious volume of Herman Husband. Such, indeed,
I conceive to be the most impartial mode of introducing
the reader to a knowledge of that rebellion, clouded as it
has been by the heavy pages of Williamson and Martin,
GOVERNOR TRYON. 35
and the more ignorant disquisitions of untutored and igno-
rant scribblers. These papers are the more valuable
because they were published in the midst of the strife,
before the fatal batde of Allemance, and in the face of the
individuals whose crimes and misdeeds are exposed. Of
their author, Herman Husband, I must say a few words
before I commence the task of transcribing his exposition
of the causes of the Regulation. He was undoubtedly a
man of a turbulent and seditious character, but he lived in
a country where the exercise of those qualities were not
only excusable, but frequently indispensable, as a means of
redress for outrage and wrong. Possessed, too, as he
undoubtedly was, of the craft and cunning of a Jesuit, as
well as a quick and ready perception of the state of the
community in which he lived, he induced the discontented
and oppressed to unite in a general and systematic opposi-
tion to the operations of the provincial government.
A single incident will serve to illustrate the character of
this singular individual. The violence of his enemies on
one occasion succeeded in imprisoning him in the town of
Hillsborough, and the conditions of his release were, that
he should never give his opinion of the laws, "nor frequent
assembling himself among the people, nor show any jeal-
ousies of the officers taking extraordinary fees, and other
similar promises." The immortal truth of Hooker, that
" whoso goeth about to persuade the people they are not
as well governed as they might be, will surely find atten-
tive listeners," was not more applicable to Husband than
to others of that day, who labored to dethrone the sove-
reign, to whom they had sworn allegiance. The promises
extorted as the condition of his release, indicate alike the
nature of his genius and the degree of tyranny he was
36 THE CHARACTER OF
endeavouring to demolish. In viewing the events of that
day, I shall not scruple to describe the character of Hus-
band, as superior to that of the miserable pettifogger whose
knavery suggested the conditions of his liberty. He
wanted the advantages of education which had been v^ainly
lavished on his adversary, if one of the objects of educa-
tion is to refine and purify the mind ; nor had he an op-
portunity of neglecting to acquire those accomplishments
which are offered in the ranks of a polished society. The
character of Husband I admit to have been that of a dem-
agogue, not however more base or servile, than many still
patronized by the suffrages of the people of my native
State.
The pages of Husband's book disclose the first effort in
Orange county to organize as a party the disaffected
portion of the people. Such an attempt was indispensa-
ble to preserve the party which had, before the passage of
the Stamp Act, opposed the exactions of the officers of the
government, the ranks of which had been crowded by the
unanimous opposition of the people to that and other
measures, and which was now reduced to its original
resources by the repeal of that law. In the month of
August, 1766, and at an inferior court of the county of
Orange, a paper addressed to the Representatives and
Magistrates of the county was presented and read. This
paper, I am of opinion, is the first written complaint
against those extortions, which formed so important an ele-
ment in the disturbances of that day, and which covered
the Courts and the Bar with reproach and shame. It is
extracted from the 9th page of Husband's book.
" Whereas that great good may come of this great
designed evil, the Stamp Law, while the sons of Lib-
GOVERNOR TRYON. 37
erty withstand the Lords of Parliament in behalf of true
Liberty ; let not officers under them carry on unjust
oppression in our Province, in order thereto, as there are
many evils of that nature complained of in this county
of Orange, in private amongst the inhabitants. There-
fore, let us remove them, or if there is no cause, let us
remove the jealousies out of our minds. Honest rulers
in power will be glad to see us examine this matter
freely. And certainly there are more honest men
among us than rogues, yet rogues are harboured among
us sometimes almost publicly. Every honest man is
willing to give part of his substance to support rulers
and laws to save the other part from rogues, and it is
his duty as well as right to see and examine whether
such rulers abuse such trust. Otherwise that part so
given may do more hurt than good. Even if we were
all rogues, in that case we could not subsist ; but would
be obliged to frame laws to make ourselves honest.
And the same reason holds good against the reason of a
Mason club. Thus though it (meaning justice) must be
desired by all men, or the greatest number of men ; yet,
when grievances of such public nature are not redress-
ed, the reason is, every body's business is nobody's.
Therefore the following proposal is offered to the pub-
lic, to wit; Let each neighbourhood throughout the
county meet together and appoint one or more men to
attend a general meeting, on the Monday before next
November court, at a suitable place, where there is no
liquor (at Maddock's Mills if no objection), at which
meeting let it be judiciously inquired into, whether the
Freemen of this county labor under any abuses of power
or not, and let the same be notified in writing, if any \%
4
38 THE CHARACTER OF
found, and the matter freely conversed upon, and pro-
per measures used for amendment. This method will
certainly cause the wicked men in power to tremble, and
there is no damage can attend such a meeting, nor noth-
ing hinder it but a cowardly, dastardly spirit, which if it
does at this time while Liberty prevails, we must mutter
and grumble under any abuses of power, until such a
noble spirit prevails in our posterity : for this is a maxim,
that while men are men, though you should see all those
Sons of Liberty (who have just now redeemed us from
tyranny) sit in offices and vested in power, they would
soon corrupt again and oppress, if they were not called
upon to give an account of their stewardship."
The sentiments and principles of this address may not
be despised even in this age of the American republic.
To give an account of their stewardship is considered as
the primal duty of every servant of the people returning
from the labors of legislation. But I would suggest
that the sentiments and principles of the address support
the position I have assumed, that the Regulation, although
overthrown by the batde of Allemance, was nevertheless
connected with tlie Revolution at that early day.
Historians commence the narrative of the Revolution
with the opposition to the Stamp Act, and point to the
spirit of that day as the same that immortalized the heights
of Bunker's Hill, and the Plains of Guilford. I may, with
equal propriety, date the origin of the Revolution in North
Carolina from the birth of that spirit of opposition, which, ex-
isting anterior to the Stamp Act, was strengthened and forti-
fied by its tyranny, and which first tore away the magic veil
that covered the monstrous deformity of British allegiance.
To agitate the question of resistance to the oppression of
GOVERNOR TRYON. 39
government, to induce the people to reflect on the policy
of such a step, to accustom them to the ground of rebellion,
and to lead them, step by step, to the dark council of the
agitators and leaders, is frequently the most heroic and per-
ilous adventure in the history of a revolution. Such was
the effect of the Stamp Act in Massachusetts and the other
states. The odious principles of that measure provoked
the people to the contemplation of more important and
efficient means of resistance than were inherent in their
Provincial government and in a later period of history, the
battle of Lexington but struck out the spark that blazed
from the battle-field to Georgia. To have commenced
the war is one of the worthiest laurels achieved during
its progress, scarcely inferior to that w^orn with the
assent of a whole people, by the immortal hero whose
genius consummated the glory of that strugejle.
The imputations against the Regulation, which prevail
in North Carolina, are, that it was nothing more than a
compact of turbulent and seditious men, united upon no
definite principle, but acting only from the impulse of a
factious spirit. The concluding sentence of the address
refutes and contradicts this prejudiced and too common
opinion. Without a cause of action, and without concert,
when in their first declaration they point to oppressions,
which had notoriously existed for years, and propose a
plan of cooperation ; in the same instrument they applaud
the opposition to the Stamp Act, and dignify the principal
movers of that opposition with the honorable title of '= Sons
of Liberty." Does this support the character which
Williamson and Martin have bestowed on the Regulators,
or the still more rancorous abuse which pride and io-no-
rance have lavished on that undefended party ? One in-
40 THE CHARACTER OF
ference is plainly cicducible from the address. If the
Regulation was, as has been represented, a profligate
and seditious junto, without merit or virtue, the party op-
posed to the Stamp Act in North Carolina, which willing-
ly united with the Regulators, and even joined them in
the mobs and routs of that day, was alike profligate and
seditious. The only difference, which ingenuity can de-
tect, is, that the Regulators were contending for a thor-
ough reformation of the government, in all its branches,
and the opponents of the Stamp Act directed their efforts
entirely against its operation.
The object of the proposed meeting at IMaddock's Mill
was sufficiently described in the address, and was approv-
ed at the time by the leading men of the Governor's party*
There was one individual, however, Edmund Fanning^
a representative from Orange, whose antipathy to an in-
vestigation of ihe conduct of the officers of the court wais
founded on a conviction of his own misdeeds and crimes.
This singular man, so indifferent to the voice of reason or
honor, as to become conspicuous on that account alone,
denounced the proposed meeting as an insurrection. At
a meeting of the neighbourhood of Deep River, the repre-
sentatives, vestry-men, and other officers were requested
to attend the meeting at Maddock's Mill, and to give
such information as they could, '' so far as they valued
" the good will of every honest freeholder, and the execu-
" ting public offices pleasant and delightsome." The
meeting of the delegates of the people assembled at Mad-
dock's Mill on the 10th of October, 1766, and, while
they were awaiting the arrival of the representatives, James
Watson, the colleague of Fanning, arrived, and brought the
denunciation of that prudent officer. The meeting, how-
GOVERNOR TRYON. 4j
ever, proceeded to die business of the day, and after a
free discussion of the distressed state of the county of
Orange, adopted the following paper, which was approv-
ed and signed by Watson.
" It was the judgment of the said meeting, that by
reason of the extent of the county, no one man in it in a
general way was known to above one tenth man of the
inhabitants, for which reason such a meeting for a pub-
lic and free conference, yearly, and as often as the case
may require, was absolutely necessary, in order to reap
the benefit designed us in that part of our constitution
of choosing representatives, and knowing for what
uses our money is called for. We also conceive such a
representative would find himself at an infinite loss to
answer the design of his constituents, if deprived of con-
sulting their minds in matters of weight and moment.
" And whereas, at the said meeting, none of them ap-
peared, (though we think properly acquainted with our ap-
pointment and request), yet, as the thing is somewhat new
in this country (though practised in older governments,)
they might not have duly considered the reasonableness
of our requests. We therefore conclude that if they
hereafter are inclinable to answer it, that we will attend
them at some other time and place, on their giving us
proper notice. It is also our judgm.ent, that on further
mature deliberation, the inhabitants of the county will
more generally see the necessity of such a conference,
and the number increase in favor of it to be continued
yearly. A copy of this was given to Mr. Watson, on his
approbation of it, and he promised to present each of our
representatives with proper transcripts, which we doubt
not the least he complied with. But however," continues
4^
42 THE CHARACTER OF
the simple narrative of Husband, " instead of complying
will) our so reasonable proposals, Colonel Fanning, at
the following court or at a general muster, read a long
piece of writing in public and among our Justices in re-
pugnance to our request, vaunting himself greatly in
his performance, telling them he had served us with
copies thereof, and signified it would silence us. But
as to wliat it contained, 1 cannot inform the public, as
we, nor any of us, that ever I could find, ever saw it."
Such seem to have been the efforts of the Regulators
to break down the domestic tyranny, which had been
generated by the corrupt government of the provincial
Governors. Starting from the heavy requisitions of Gov-
ernor Dobbs, and the avarice of the attorneys and
agents of the later years of his administration, the Regu-
lation had matured thus far in the fall of the year
1766. The advantages of a concert were soon ex-
perienced in the greater facility, which such a body
possessed of indicting the officers, and other extortion-
ers, and in the expenses attending such prosecutions
being liberally paid by a general subscription. At the
meeting at Maddock's Mill, the sum of fifty pounds was
subscribed for such a purpose ; and although no particular
officer was specified as the object of prosecution, yet the
circumstance justly awakened the suspicions of Fanning.
Living, as he did, in the constant and acknowledged com-
mission of crime, his guilty and jealous mind was eager to
examine the bearing of every penal statute, and every
meditated prosecution, under an apprehension that it
might have been agitated for his own sins.
At last I have to notice the session of an Assembly, a
portion of the government which the fear and policy of
GOVERNOR TRYON. 43
Tryon had nearly extinguished. For more than eighteen
months the Province had been without an Assembly ; and
this stroke of policy, so obviously the result of apprehen-
sion, embittered and aggravated the previous jealousies of
the people. The members met in New Berne on the 3d
of November, and the session was commenced by a quarrel
with the Governor on account of the long chasm in the
legislation of the Province which his fears had produced.
The courage of Tryon seems to have slumbered during
this controversy. The reproaches of the popular House
were bitter and open, and the insinuations disrespectful
and insulting. Tlie Governor was rebuked for having en-
couraged the application of the abusive terms of "rebels"
and "traitors "to the people of the Province, a charge,
which he warmly pronounced without foundation. He de-
clared himself a perfect stranger to the insinuations, which
the answer of the House contained, and avowed a willing-
ness to forget every transaction, which ingenuity could tor-
ture into an insult. The charge of cowardice against Tryon,
which is supported by various events in the history of his
administration, may be qualified in this case, by one or two
powerful considerations. The sedition at Wilmington had
taught him the popular lesson of conciliation, as well as the
reality of popular power. He found himself now surround-
ed by many of the same men vested with the dignity and
power of representatives, and still burning with resent-
ment against him as the author of those calumnies with
which they had been assailed. The prudence of Tryon
plainly saw the danger of provoking or irritating the
opposition of such men, and the necessity of healing the
wounds which he had inflicted. The other consideration
was undoubtedly a great inducement to forbearance, and
44 THE CHARACTER OF
indeed, to such a man asTryon, of liumiliatlon. He had
fallen in love with the idea of erecting a splendid palace,
to accomplish which, he wooed the members, with all the
submission of a devoted lover. He lost his dignity in the
efforts which he thus frequently made to accomplish his
darling scheme, and may have forgotten his honor in the
madness of his zeal and enthusiasm.
It was in the various political manoeuvres, necessary to
procure an appropriation of funds for the erection of this pa-
lace, that the genius of Lady Tyron, and her lovely sister,
rose superior to the official consequence of the Governor.
The sum of five thousand pounds was readily voted by the
Assembly of 1766 ; but when it subsequently appeared,
that this sum was only sufficient for the mere beginning of
the edifice, and that ten thousand more were necessary to
complete it, the liberality of the legislature was exhausted.
After a great deal of management, however, the second
appropriaUon bill was passed, and its success has been
justly attributed more to the brilliant society of the two
ladies than to the policy of the Governor. To have taxed
a Province, exhausted by the scourge of war and anar-
chy, with a burthen of fifteen thousand pounds, exhibits
a greater degree of indifference to the distresses of the
people, than can be reconciled with patrioUsm or human-
ity. The dinners of his Excellency m.ust have been
princely indeed, and the society of the ladies, — the only
sovereign apology, — extremely delightful, to have wrung
from the parsimony of the Assembly so heavy an appro-
priafion. I shall anficipate one event in the annals of the
state, to illustrate the universal esteem and admiration, in
which these two ladies were held. The Assembly of 1770
created a new county in the centre of the state, and
GOVERNOR TRYON. 45
adorned it with the name of Wake, in compliment to the
beauty of Miss Esther. At a still latter period of
our history, when the Royal government had been
annihilated, the Assembly carefully and justly substituted
the names of distinguished Americans, for those of Tryon,
Dobbs, and others, which had designated several of the
counties of the state. While the motion to change the
name of Tryon county was under consideration, a propo-
sition was made by some over-zealous patriot, to expunge
the name of Wake. The title of Tryon was expunged,
but the ungallant proposition to obliterate the recollection
of a beautiful woman was rejected by acclamation. The
city of Raleigh, the capital of the state, as if to crown the
majesty of beauty, was, at a still latter period, loca-
ted in the county of Wake, an appropriate name for
a city, built on a territory consecrated to the genius of
beauty and virtue.
In this preliminary view of the character of Governor
Tryon, I have not space for a regular, detailed history of
his administration. I m.ust leave the palace, and its fair in-
mates, and invite the attention of the reader to the battle of
Allemance, a victory which extinguished the rebellion of
the Regulators.
In the year 1771, after the adjournment of the Assem-
bly, it was perceptible to all, that the calamity of a civil
war was inevitable. In the month of March the Governor
commenced the organization of an army, and by the ad-
vice of the Council, was determined to lead it in person
to the territory of the rebels. In the mean time a plan of
peace and reconciliation had been adopted by the contend-
ing parties in the county of Orange, which might have sav-
ed the Province from the ravages of war, but for the simul-
taneous hostile movement of the Governor in the town
46 THE CHARACTER OF
of New Berne. A court of Oyer and Terminer was held
in that place, under the late act of the Assembly, and bills
of indictment were found against a large number of the
Regulators, for destroying the house of Fanning on the
previous 25ih of September. The court adopted an as-
sociation paper, which was signed by the Governor, and
other distinguished officers, pledging themselves to support
the government in restoring peace, and enforcing a due
execution of the laws. This was viewed by the people of
Orange, without regard to party, as a veto on the plan of
pacification, and the parties now reverted to their for-
mer opinions and deeds. During the latter part of April,
Governor Tryon having collected an army of three hun-
dred men, and appointed different posts of rendezvous on
his way, marched from New Berne, accompanied by several
members of the council, and other influential characters.
On arriving on the banks of the river Enoe, he found
himself at the head of a formidable and efficient force,
under the command of the militia officers of the sev-
eral counties. A detachment from the county of New
Hanover, under the command of Colonel John Ashe,
another from Onslow under Colonel Richard Caswell,
another from the county of Carteret, under Colonel Craig,
another from Johnston, under Colonel William Thompson,
another from Beaufort, under Colonel Needham Bryan, and
one from Wake, under Colonel John Hinton, had joined his
standard, before he reached the encampment on Enoe.
The infantry of the arn)y with which he started from
New Berne, was commanded by Colonel Joseph Leech,
the artillery by Captain Moore, and a company of rang-
ers by Captain Neale. The Camp was only a few miles
from Hilisboro', and before the artny had progressed any
farther on its march, a prodigious reinforcement, under the
GOVERNOR TRYON. 47
management of Edmund Fanning, a notable attorney of the
town, arrived. Tradition informs us, that this singular re-
inforcement was composed of clerks, constables, coro-
ners, broken down sheriffs, and other such materials, and
this statement is supported by the fact, that two of {he prin-
cipal objects of the Governor were, to protect the election
of a member for Orange in the place of Husband, and to
assist the sheriff in levying the taxes, aflairs in which the
agency of Fanning might be indispensable.
Colonel Waddell, with a small detachment, had been in
that section of the state for some time, and, having espous-
ed, with much zeal, the cause of the government, was an
object of great hatred to the Regulators. They contriv-
ed to entangle him in a skirmish, and with a superior
force to surround his small army. The Colonel himself
with a few followers, escaped to Salisbury, and from thence
an express was received by Tryon, while on the banks of
the Enoe, containing an account of his discomfiiure.
He stated, that there existed a constant intercourse be-
tween the detachment and the Regulators, and that, in
such a situation, flight was his only opportunity of escape.
Before the encampment was struck, the Governor received
intelligence, that the enemy was on the march to meet
him ; and, apprehensive that his passage of Haw River
might be obstructed, he moved on in haste to the scene of
action. A volunteer company of light-horse, under the
command of Captain Bullock, was the only addition to
his army he received, and with his whole force he cross-
ed Haw River on the 13th of May. On the evening of
the following day, he pitched his camp on the banks of the
Allemance, a small stream, distinguished in history by the
extraordinary nature of the approaching conflict.
48 THE CHARACTER OF
I have conducted the King's forces, near the field of
battle, and have now to return to the Regulators, describe
the industry of their leaders, and the concentration of their
forces. In my future details on this subject, I shall dis-
tinguish the army of Tryon by the name of the "King's
Forces," an appellation more familiar to the people of
North Carolina, and one which was claimed as an honorable
title by the officers of that army, until none were so poor
as to do homage to the King. The counties of Orange,
Anson, Granville, Guilford, and the adjacent western sec-
tion of the state contributed to the army of the Regulators.
The restless genius of Husband pervaded the whole party.
He encouraged the timid to the field, with the hope of ex-
torting by fear from Tryon a redress of their complaints,
and inflamed the more courageous with the expectalioa
of plunder or renown. He ransacked every house, and
warned every man to arms, to repel the invader of their
rights, and their plantations. The people flocked to his
standard in numbers, and swelled his ranks to an unwieldy
and unmanageable crowd. Many came unarmed and join-
ed the ranks under an expectation, that there would be no
bloodshed, but that so large a force would bring the Gover-
nor to the terms they might propose. Such indeed w^as the
prevailing sentiment among the Regulators, and had been
urged by Husband, as an inducement to join his standard.
With all the duplicity of a demagogue, he varied his argu-
ments, to suit the temper and situation of each individual
whom he solicited. To all he might urge the wrongs and
extortions they had suffered, but not to all could he urge
war. His army thus constituted, may be computed at
two thousand men, not more than half of which number
could have been armed even with the semblance of a
GOVERNOR TRYON. 49
deadly weapon. Once within his ranks terror was exert-
ed to retain them, and to force them to the field. If each
soldier of that army had gone to the banks of the AUe-
mance with the feelings, and the passions of their leader,
and with the charged musket on his shoulder, the King's
forces might have been celebrated for a dexterous retreat,
and not a clumsy and unsoldierlike victory. But few
went to that batde with the motives of Husband. Re-
venge was the nutriment of his valor ; and with a mind
phrenzied by the disgrace of an expulsion from the As-
sembly, and the loathsome confinement of a dungeon, he
hurried to the battle, with all the fury and madness of de-
spair. With five hundred men thus animated and well
armed, " the great wolf of JVorth Carolina " might have
been conspicuous only, in the annals of the state, as the
last of the Royal Governors.
The Regulators, without the advantage of discipline or
the use of decent arms or military stores, must have present-
ed the appearance of one of the militia musters of the coun-
ty of Orange, at the present day. Should the experiment
of raising an army of two thousand men out of that and the
adjacent counties be made at this time, it would require
twelve months and a large expenditure of funds, to give
it the imposing appearance of a well regulated and disci-
plined army. History may relate the miracle that was
WTOught in those days, by the collection of an army of
two thousand well arnied soldiers in the short space of two
or three months ; but the curiosity of criticism may ven-
ture to contrast the possibility of such a thing in the pres-
ent more enlightened and prosperous age. At a short
notice a mob of four or five thousand may be collected,
and this vast crou'd may con)prise a hundred well armed
men, deprived of the power to act, by the irregulariues of
5
50 THE CHARACTER OF
their comrades ; but a hundred skilful police officers will
disperse them with less bloodshed than the army of a
royal governor. Laurels acquired in such an action might
adorn the brows of a pack of constables headed by a pet-
tifogger, but disgrace the magnificence of a military expe-
dition headed by the chief magistrate of a government.
The forces of the Regulators, under the command of
Husband, and Captains Hunter and Butler, advanced
towards the AUemance and encamped within a few miles
of the station occupied by Tryon. The fact that a large
number joined the standard with no suspicion of a battle is
obvious from the proposition which was submitted to the
Governor, on the 15th of May, the day before the battle,
to return to their homes, if he would redress their griev-
ances. This pacific plan was by no means agreeable
either to Husband or Tryon, both of whom were intent on
battle. It was on the J'5th that Colonel Ashe and Cap-
tain John Walker w^ere, vAhile on a scouting party, appre-
hended by the Regulators, " tugged up to trees and
severely flogged." * The apprehension for the safety of
these two officers, and the uncivil, not to say rude conduct
of the enemy, created great alarm in the Governor's
camp ; and much difficulty was found in detaining Colonel
Edmund Fanning, Esq., who had once experienced a
similar incivility. The whipping of these two officers w^as
one of the expedients of Husband to destroy entirely all
hopes of an amicable adjustment, as well as to gratify his
inimical feelings towards Colonel Ashe, with whom he
had a rencontre some time before in Hillsboro'.
On the night of the loth the camp of Tryon was rigidly
guarded, and the whole adjacent country filled with small
detachments as sentry guards. The cavalry kept their
' * Martin, Vol. 11. p. 278.
GOVERNOR TRYON. 5i
horses saddled throughout the night and every other pre-
caution against surprise was adopted ; but the slumbers of
Colonel Fanning were interrupted by apprehensions and
dreams of the punishment of Colonel Ashe. At daybreak
on the 1 6th of May, the King's forces were on their marchs
having left their camp standing, under a strong guard com-
manded by Colonel Bryan of Johnston. The two armies
approached about mid-day and halted within half a mile
of each other. The King's forces were drawn up in two
lines a hundred yards apart, with the artillery in the
centre. Colonel Leech, with the detachments of Craven
and Beaufort, commanded the right wing of the front line,
and Colonel Thompson with those of Carteret and Orange
the left. The detachment of New Hanover and three
companies from Dobbs, under the command of Colonel
Caswell, formed the right wing of the second line ; and
Colonel Craig with the troops from Onslow and Johnston
completed the main body of the King's forces. Colonel
Hinton with the company from Wake and a troop of light-
horse from Duplin reinforced the rear guard, and the ran-
gers covered the flanks on both sides.
The Governor's person was guarded by the cavalry of
Captain Bullock, and Colonel Caswell was instructed,
in case of an attack on the left wing, to form an angle
from his lines and cover the left flank. The Regulators
were not thus skilfully arranged, nor had they the materials
for such an arrangement. A large proportion were un-
armed, and those who bore arms were unprepared for more
than one discharge of musquetry. I discredit the compu-
lation of Williamson, who says, they were about three
thousand, and deny the possibility of arming so numerous
an army at that early day. Taking even my statement
as the more correct, that their whole force was two thou-
52 THE CHARACTER OF
sand, the same impossibility of procuring arms and ammu-
nition in a country literally destitute of the conveniences of
life for such an army, presents itself. There could not
have been more than one thousand men under arms, and
the dexterity of these was incommoded by the unwieldy
and idle crowd around them. The Governor replied to
the demand (which had been made the day before) to
redress their grievances, by a positive assurance that noth-
ing but unconditional submission would be acknowledged
as terms of peace, and allowed them one hour to weigh
the important and momentous crisis. Husband listened
with impatience to his proposal and bade the messenger
return and tell the Governor that he defied him to battle.
This violent language did not meet the unanimous accord-
ance of the army, and a second reading of the proposition
was called for by those who were not disposed or prepared
for battle. The paper was again read, and at its conclu-
sion. Husband again bade the messenger return and carry
his defiance to the ears of his master. The two armies ap-
proached within a hundred yards of each other, when two
of Tryon's men, a civil and military officer, advanced
towards the Regulators, and read in a loud voice a procla-
mation or riot act, commanding them to disperse in one
hour. Unfortunately the Governor's proclamations had
been issued on so many occasions to no purpose, and had
so often denounced their leaders, that they now refused to
hear it, and shouted, " Battle, battle," as a more congenial
sound than a vain and pompous harangue. The Regula-
tors had determined to put Colonel Ashe and Captain
Walker in front of their lines, unless Tryon would ex-
change for them seven prisoners he had taken. While
the parley was going on for that purpose, the impatience of
the armies was so great, that the leaders made a simulta-
GOVERNOR TRYON. 53
neous movement, and led on to battle. The two armies
marched with the most profound silence, and, such was the
indisposin'on of either side to fight, that the ranks passed
each other and were then compelled by a short retreat to
regain their respective places. At the distance of twenty-
five yards apart the contending parties stood and occupied
the solemn hour before battle with a verbal quarrel, each
party uttering the most violent imprecations and bandying
the most abusive epithets.* The Regulators shook their
clenched hands at the Governor and Mr. Fanning, and
w^alked up to the artillery with open bosoms, defying them
to fire. The King's forces occupied the road, and the
Regulators the w^oods; and, each party making an effort to
obtain a contiguous and more advantageous position, a
bloodless meeting took place. Colonel Ashe and Captain
Walker were demanded by an adjutant, who reported that
the Governor would wait no longer, but should instantly
fire on them if they did not submit. They were now face
to face, each man engaged in a loud and clamorous quar-
rel with the nearest enemy, on the grievances of the peo-
ple and the virtues of Fanning. It was in vain that the
Governor roared out the word of command, directing his
men to fire, each loyal soldier was too busily engaged
either in an argument or a fist fight, to heed the haughty
and dictatorial decree.
History records the circumstance, that it was only by a
simple but violent speech of Tryon (" Fire, fire on them or
on me ")f that the King's forces could be induced to obey.
On the discharge of the first gun the batde became gen-
eral ; and, each man fighting without regard to order or
* Martin, Vol. 11. p. 281. t Id. p. 282.
54 THE CHARACTER OF
command, a tumult ensued which may well bo compared
with the mobs of Manchester or Bristol. Such was the
disorder of the action, that the artillery was idle for the
first hour during which time the conflict was equal and
well sustained. When the artillery, however, was brought
to bear, the contest ceased on both sides as if by magic ;
and the Regulators (who were without even a swivel), as
they recovered from their panic, fled in dismay and con-
fusion ; and were pursued in a similar state of disorder by
the King's forces. " The loss of the Governor was nine
killed and sixty-one wounded ; that of the rebels twenty
killed and a number wounded." ^ The reader may be
curious to know the fate of Mr. Fanning in this perilous
engagement. The moment before the battle commenced,
on catching a glimpse of Colonel Ashe and Captain Wal-
ker, a recollection of the peculiar manner in which those
gentlemen, as well as himself, had been treated, so shock'
ed the natural sensitiveness of his mind, that he was ob-
liged to make a precipitate retreat to the camp.
On the evening of the day, and after the overthrow of
the Regulators was ascertained to be complete, the wicked
and blood-thirsty genius of Tryon, mortified at the small
number of slain, directed the execution of James Few, a
religious maniac, whom he had taken prisoner. Such an
inhuman and unsoldierlike act of barbarity, is without a
parallel in the history of our country, and exhibits, in a
manner not to be mistaken, his utter destitution of every
principle of virtue or courage. The battle was over and
the base laurel which such a victory gained, was stained,
foul as it was, by this most unfeeling and fiendish act, from
which an American savage would turn with disgust, a can-
* Such is the computation of Martin.
GOVERNOR TRYON. gr
nibal revolt witli horror. And, as if to crown the cruelty
and loathsomeness of this act, the low tyrant penetrated
into the private history of his victim, and visited upon the
parents and relatives (by the destruction of their estates)
the misfortunes, and not the crimes, of the brother and the
child. This single act, if the whole previous tenor of
Tryon's Irfe had been covered with the mande of virtue
and generosity, would have sullied for ever its purity, and
justified the unqualified execration of history. It would
have tarnished the character of Caligula, and have adorn-
ed the brutal massacres of General Nat Turner.
Thus terminated the batUe of Allemance, one of the
most singular struggles in the annals of the state, but
which has been magnified, by the pride and ignorance of
Tryon's party, into a bloody and violent contest and an
honorable and glorious victory. Its only importance in his-
tory is, that it prostrated the Regulators, who now eagerly
took the various oaths of allegiance, which the political
pedantry of Tryon suggested. The country was not de-
populated by the number of slain, nor did even the subse-
quent executions of the Governor produce a thinness of
the population or a stagnation of industry and enterprise.
It simply annihilated the Regulation, without bloodshed or
honor, and thus its consequences are told.
Tryon at the head of his army marched through the
country with a civil and military officer in front, who read
a proclamation to every unfortunate traveller, granting par-
don to all excepting a few of the most conspicuous leaders.
A reward of land and money w^as offered for Husband,
dead or alive, and a special Court of Oyer and Terminer
was ordered, for the trial of the twelve prisoners taken in
the batde. They were convicted of high treason and sen-
tenced to death. The execution of six of them was
56 THE CHARACTER OF
respited, and the Governor himself condescended to per-
form the unpleasant and menial duly of preparing for the
execution of the others. After the gratification which such
a spectacle doubtless afforded him, he left the army, and
returned to New Berne, whence he sailed for New York,
to the government of which province he had been re-
cently appointed.
I have written this view of the character of Governor
Tryon, to elucidate the subsequent history of the adminis-
tration of Josiah Martin, and the downfall of the royal
government. To the latter subject, indeed, it is a proper
incident ; for during his administration the political signs of
the times were strongly indicative of the downfall of the
government. The following document giving a general
history of his administration is from the pen of Maurice
Moore, one of the judges of the Superior Court during
the government of Tryon. He has been already men-
tioned in these pages in the discussion of the Stamp Act.
He was appointed to the office of judge by Tryon, and yet
the severity of the document indicates the most decided
political hostility. I willinglj^ subscribe to the correctness
of his view of the character of Governor Tryon ; although
T cannot see why Lady Tryon should not have been enti-
tled Her Excellency, as tradition ascribes to her much of
the success of many of his political manoeuvres. Maurice
Moore was a Regulator ; and, as he gave as a judge much
support to the Governor, I suppose he did so on the score
of admiration for " Her " and not His Excellency.
The document had an extensive circulation during the
years 1771, 1772, and 1773, and was copied generally
by the Whig papers of the country. It was some years
since republished in the Appendix to the first volume of
Martin's " History of North Carolina."
GOVERNOR TRYON. 57
" To his Exccllenc]) William Tnjon, Esquire.
" 1 am too well acquainted with your character to suppose you
can bear to be told of your faults with temper. You are too much
of the soldier, and too little of the philosopher, for reprehension.
With this opinion of your Excellency, I have more reason to believe
that this letter will be more serviceable to the province of New
York, than useful or entertaining to its governor. The beginning
of your administration in this province was marked with oppression
and distress to its inhabitants. These, Sir, I do not place to your
account; they are derived from higher authority than yours. You
were, however, a dull, yet willing instrument, in the hands of the
British Ministry, to promote the means of both. You called together
some of the principal inhabitants of your neighbourhood, and in a
strange, inverted, self-affecting speech, told them that you had left
your native country, friends, and connexions, and taken upon your-
self the government of North Carolina with no other view than to
serve it. In the next breath, Sir, you advised them to submit to
the Stamp Act, and become slaves. How could you reconcile such
baneful advice with such friendly professions ? But, Sir, self contra-
dictions with you have not been confined to words only ; they have
been equally extended to actions. On other occasions you have
played the governor with an air of greater dignity and importance
than any of your predecessors ; on this, your Excellency was meanly
content to solicit the currency of stamped paper in private companies.
But, alas ! ministerial approbation is the first wish of your heart ; it
is the best security you have for your office. Engaged as you were
in this disgraceful negotiation, the more important duties of the
governor were forgotten, or wilfully neglected. In murmuring, dis-
content, and public confusion, you left the colony committed to your
care, for near eighteen months together, without calling an assem-
bly. The Stamp Act repealed, you called one ; and a fatal one it
was ! under every influence your character afforded you, at this
Assembly, was laid the foundation of all the mischief which has since
befallen this unhappy province. A grant was made to the crown of
five thousand pounds, to erect a house for the residence of a gover-
nor ; and you. Sir, were solely intrusted with the management of it.
The infant and impoverished state of this country could not afford
to make such a grant, and it was your duty to have been acquainted
with the circumstances of the colony you governed. This trust
58 THE CHARACTER OF
proved equally fatal to the interest of the province and to your Ex-
cellency's honor. You made use of it, Sir, to gratify your vanity,
at the expense of both. It at once afforded you an opportunity of
leaving an elegant monujnent of your taste in building behind you,
and giving the ministry an instance of your great influence and
address in your new government. You, therefore, regardless of
every moral, as well as legal obligation, changed the plan of a prov-
ince-house for that of a palace, worthy the residence of a prince of
the blood, and augmented the expense to fifteen thousand pounds.
Here, Sir, you betrayed your trust, disgracefully to the governor,
and dishonorably to the man. This liberal and ingenious stroke in
politics may, for all I know, have promoted you to the government
of New York. Promotions may have been the reward of such sort
of merit. Be this as it may, you reduced the next Assembly you
met to the unjust alternative of granting ten thousand pounds more,
or sinking the five thousand they had already granted. They chose
the former. It was most pleasing to the governor, but directly con-
trary to the sense of their constituents. This public imposition upon
a people, who, from poverty, were hardly able to pay the necessary
expenses of government, occasioned general discontent, which your
Excellency, with wonderful address, improved into a civil war,
*' In a colony without money, and among a people, almost despei>
ate with distress, public profusion should have been carefully avoid-
fed ; bat unfortunately for the country, you were bred a soldier, and
have a natural, as well as acquired fondness for military parade.
You were intrusted to run a Cherokee boundary about ninety miles
in length ; this little service at once afforded you an opportunity of
exercising your military talents, and making a splendid exhibition
of yourself to the Indians. To a gentleman of your Excellency's
turn of mind, this was no unpleasing prospect ; you marched to per-
form it, in a time of profound peace, at the head of a company of
militia, in all the pomp of war, and returned with the honorable title,
conferred on you by the Cherokees, of Great Wolf of JVorth Caro-
lina. This line of marked trees, and your Excellency's prophetic
title, cost the province a greater sum than two pence a head, on all
the taxable persons in it for one year, would pay.
" Your next expedition. Sir, was a more important one. Four or
five hundred ignorant people, who called themselves Regulators,
took it into their head to quarrel with their representative, a gentle-
man honored with your Excellency's esteem. They foolishly charg-
GOVERNOR TRYON.
59
ed him with every distress they felt; and, in revenge, shot two or
three musket balls through his house. They at the same time
rescued a horse which had been seized for the public tax. These
crimes were punishable in the courts of law, and at that time the
criminals were amenable to legal process. Your Excellency and
your confidential friends, it seems, were of a different opinion. All
your duty could possibly require of you on this occasion, if it requir-
ed any thing at all, was to direct a prosecution against the offenders.
You should have carefully avoided becoming a party in the dispute.
But, Sir, your genius could not lie still ; you enlisted yourself a vol-
unteer in this service, and entered into a negotiation with the Regu-
lators, which at once disgraced you and encouraged them. They
despised the governor who had degraded his own character by tak-
ing part in a private quarrel, and insulted the man whom they con-
sidered as personally their enemy. The terms of accommodation
your Excellency had offered them were treated with contempt.
What they were, I never knew ; they could not have related to pub-
lic offences ; these belong to another jurisdiction. All hopes of
settling the mighty contest by treaty ceasing, you prepared to de-
cide it by means more agreeable to your martial disposition, an ap-
peal to the sword. You took the field in September, 1768, at the
head of ten or twelve hundred men, and published an oral mani-
festo, the substance of which was, that you had taken up arms to
protect a superior court of justice from insult. Permit me here to
ask you. Sir, why you were apprehensive for the court .'' Was the
court apprehensive for itself? Did the judges, or the attorney-
general, address your Excellency for protection ? So far from it, Sir,
if these gentlemen are to be believed, they never entertained the
least suspicion of any insult, unless it was that, which they after-
wards experienced from the undue influence you offered to extend
to them, and the military display of drums, colors, and guards, with
which they were surrounded and disturbed. How fully has your
conduct, on a like occasion since, testified, that you acted in this
instance from passion, and not from principle ! In September, 1770,
the Regulators forcibly obstructed the proceedings of Hillsborough
Superior Court, obliged the officers to leave it, and blotted out the
records. A little before the next term, when their contempt of
courts was sufficiently proved, you wrote an insolent letter to the
judges, and attorney-general, commanding them to attend to it.
Why did you not protect the court at this time ? You will blush at
(30 THE CHARACTER OF
the answer, Sir. The conduct of the Regulators, at the preceding
term, made it more than probable that those gentlemen would be
insulted at this, and you were not unwilling to sacrifice them to
increase the guilt of your enemies.
" Your Excellency said, that you had armed, to protect a court.
Had you said to revenge the insult you and your friends had receiv-
ed it would have been more generally credited in this country. The
men, for the trial of whom the court was thus extravagantly pro-
tected, of their own accord, squeezed through a crowd of soldiers,
and surrendered themselves, as if they were bound to do so by
their recognizance.
" Some of these people were convicted, fined, and imprisoned ;
which put an end to a piece of knight-errantry, equally aggravating
to the populace and burthensome to the country. On this occasion,
Sir, you were alike successful in the diffusion of a military spirit
through the colony and in the warlike exhibition you set before the
public ; you at once disposed the vulgar to hostilities, and proved the
legality of arming, in cases of dispute, by example. Thus warranted
by precedent and tempered by sympathy, popular discontent soon
became resentment and opposition ; revenge superseded justice, and
force the laws of the country ; courts of law were treated with con-
tempt, and government itself set at defiance. For upwards of two
months was the frontier part of the country left in a state of perfect
anarchy. Your Excellency then thought fit to consult the represen-
tatives of the people, who presented you a bill which you passed
into a law. The design of this act was to punish past riots in a new
jurisdiction, to create new offences and to secure the collection of
the public tax; which, ever since the province had been saddled
with a palace, the Regulators had refused to pay. The jurisdiction
for holding pleas of all capital offences was, by a former law, con-
fined to the particular district in which they were committed. This
act did not change that jurisdiction ; yet your Excellency, in the
fulness of your power, established a new one for the trial of such
crimes in a diflferent district. Whether you did this through ignor-
ance or design can only be determined in your own breast ; it was
equally violative of a sacred right, every British subject is entitled
to, of being tried by his neighbours, and a positive law of the prov-
ince you yourself had ratified. In this foreign jurisdiction, bills of
indictment were preferred, and found, as well for felonies as riots
against a number of Regulators ; they refused to surrender them-
GOVERNOR TRYON. 61
selves within the time limited by the riot act, and your Excellency
opened your third campaign. These indictments charged the crimes
to have been committed in Orange county, in a distinct district from
that in which the court was held. The superior court law prohibits
prosecution for capital offences in any other district, than that in
which they were committed. What distinctions the gentlemen of
the long robe might make on such an occasion I do not know, but it
appears to me those indictments might as well have been found in
your Excellency's kitchen ; and give me leave to tell you, Sir, that
a man is not bound to answer to a charge that a court has no author-
ity to make, nor doth the law punish a neglect to perform that,
which it does not command. The riot act declared those only out-
lawed who refused to answer to indictments legally found. Those
who had been capitally charged were illegally indicted, and could
not be outlaws ; yet your Excellency proceeded against them as
such. I mean to expose your blunders, not to defend their con-
duct ; that was as insolent and daring as the desperate state your
administration had reduced them to could possibly occasion. 1 am
willing to give you full credit for every service you have rendered
this country. Your active and gallant behaviour, in extinguishing
the flame you yourself had kindled, does you great honor. For
once your military talents were useful to the province ; you bravely
met in the field, and vanquished, an host of scoundrels, whom you
had made intrepid by abuse. It seems difficult to determine. Sir,
whether your Excellency is more to be admired for your skill in
creating the cause, or your bravery in suppressing the effect. This
single action would have blotted out for ever half the evils of your
administration ; but alas, Sir I the conduct of the general after his
victory, was more disgraceful to the hero who obtained it, than that
of the man before it had been to the governor. Why did you stain
BO great an action with the blood of a prisoner who was in a state of
insanity ? The execution of James Few was inhuman ; that miser-
able wretch has entitled to life till nature, or the laws of his country,
deprived him of it. The battle of the Allemance was over; the sol-
dier was crowned with success, and the peace of the province restor-
ed. There was no necessity for the infamous example of an arbi-
trary execution, without judge or jury. I can freely forgive you,
Sir, for killing Robert Thompson, at the beginning of the battle ; he
was your prisoner, and was making his escape to fight against you.
The laws of self-preservation sanctified the action, and justly entitle
your Excellency to an act of indemnity.
6
62 THE CHARACTER OF
" The sacrifice of Few, under its criminal circumstances, could
neither atone for his crime nor abate your rage ; this task was
reserved for his unhappy parents. Your vengeance, Sir, in this
instance, it seems, moved in a retrograde direction to that proposed
in the second commandment against idolaters ; you visited the sins
of the child upon the father, and, for want of the third and fourth
generation to extend it to, collaterally divided it between brothers
and sisters. The heavy affliction, with which the untimely death of
a son had burthened his parents, was sufficient to have cooled the
resentment of any man, whose heart was susceptible of the feelings
of humanity ; yours, I am afraid, is not a heart of that kind. If it is,
why did you add to the distresses of that family .'' Why refuse the
petition of the town of Hillsborough in favor of them, and unrelent-
ingly destroy, as far as you could, the means of their future exist-
ence ? It was cruel, Sir, and unworthy a soldier.
" Your conduct to others afler your success, whether it respected
person or property, was as lawless as it was unnecessarily expensive
to the colony. When your Excellency had exemplified the power of
government in the death of a hundred Regulators, the survivors, to
a man, became proselytes to government; they readily swallowed
your new-coined oath, to be obedient to the laws of the province,
and to pay the public taxes. It is a pity, Sir, that, in devising this
oath, you had not attended to the morals of those people. You might
easily have restrained every criminal inclination, and have made
them good men, as well as good subjects. The battle of the Alle-
mance had equally disposed them to moral and to political conver-
sion ; there was no necessity, Sir, when the people were reduced to
obedience, to ravage the country, or to insult individuals.
" Had your Excellency nothing else in view than to enforce a sub-
mission to the laws of the country, you might safely have disbanded
the army within ten days after your victory ; in that time the chiefs
of the Regulators were run away, and their deluded followers had
returned to their homes. Such a measure would have saved the
province twenty thousand pounds at least. But, Sir, you had farther
employment for the army ; you were, by an extraordinary bustle in
administering oaths, and disarming the country, to give a serious
appearance of rebellion to the outrage of a mob ; you were to aggra-
vate the importance of your own services by changing a general
dislike of your administration into disaffection to his Majesty's per-
son and government, and the riotous conduct that dislike had occa-
GOVERNOR TRYON. 63
sioned into premeditated rebellion. This scheme, Sir, is really an
ingenious one ; if it succeeds, you may possibly be rewarded for
your services with the honor of knighthood.
" From the 16th of May to the 16th of June, you were busied in
securing the allegiance of rioters, and levying contributions of beef
and flour. You occasionally amused yourself with burning a few
houses, treading down corn, insulting the suspected, and holding
courts-martial. These courts took cognizance of civil as well as
military offences, and even extended their jurisdiction to ill-breeding
and want of good manners. One Johnston, who was a reputed
Regulator, but whose greatest crime, 1 believe, was writing an impu-
dent letter to your lady, was sentenced, in one of these military
courts, to receive five hundred lashes, and received two hundred and
fifty of them accordingly. But, Sir, however exceptionable your
conduct may have been on this occasion, it bears little proportion to
that which you adopted on the trial of the prisoners you had taken.
These miserable wretches were to be tried for a crime made capital
by a temporary act of Assembly, of twelve months' duration. That
act had, in great tenderness to his Majesty's subjects, converted
riots into treasons. A rigorous and punctual execution of it was as
unjust, as it was politically unnecessary. The terror of the exam-
ples now proposed to be made under it was to expire, with the law,
in less than nine months after. The sufferings of these people could
therefore amount to little more than mere punishment to themselves.
Their offences were derived from public and from private imposi-
tions ; and they were the followers, not the leaders, in the crimes
they had committed. Never were criminals more justly entitled to
every lenity the law could afford them ; but. Sir, no consideration
could abate your zeal in a cause you had transferred from yourself
to your sovereign. You shamefully exerted every influence of your
character against the lives of these people. As soon as you were
told that an indulgence of one day had been granted by the court to
two men to send for witnesses, who actually established their inno-
cence, and saved their lives, you sent an aid-de-camp to the judges
and attorney-general, to acquaint them that you were dissatified with
the inactivity of their conduct, and threatened to represent them
unfavorably in England, if they did not proceed with more spirit and
despatch. Had the court submitted to influence, all testimony on
the part of the prisoners would have been excluded ; they must
have been condemned, to a man. You said that your solicitude for
64 THE CHARACTER OF
the condemnation of these people arose from your desire of mani-
festing the lenity of government in their pardon. How have your
actions contradicted your words ! Out of twelve that were condemn-
ed, the lives of six only were spared. Do you know, Sir, that your
lenity on this occasion was less than that of the bloody Jeffries in
1685 ? He condemned five hundred persons, but saved the lives of
two hundred and seventy.
" In the execution of the six devoted offenders, your Excellency
was as short of General Kirk in form, as you were of judge Jeffries
in lenity. That general honored the execution he had the charge of
with play of pipes, sound of trumpets, and beat of drums ; you
were content with the silent display of colors only. The disgrace-
ful part you acted in this ceremony, of pointing out the spot for
erecting the gallows, and clearing the field around for drawing up
the army in form, has left a ridiculous idea of your character behind
you, which bears a strong resemblance to that of a busy undertaker
at a funeral. This scene closed your Excellency's administration in
this country, to the great joy of every man in it, a few of your own
contemptible tools only excepted.
" Were I personally your Excellency's enemy, I would follow yon
into the shade of life, and show you equally the object of pity and
contempt to the wise and serious, and of jest and ridicule to the
ludicrous and sarcastic. Truly pitiable. Sir, is the pale and trembling
impatience of your temper. No character, however distinguished
for wisdom and virtue, can sanctify the least degree of contradiction
to your political opinions. On such occasions. Sir, in a rage, you
renounce the character of a gentleman, and precipitately mark the
most exalted merit with every disgrace the haughty insolence of a
governor can inflict upon it. To this unhappy temper. Sir, may be
ascribed most of the absurdities of your administration in this coun-
try. It deprived you of every assistance men of spirit and abilities
could have given you, and left you, with all your passions and inex-
perience about you, to blunder through the duties of your office,
supported and approved by the most profound ignorance and abject
servility.
" Your pride has as often exposed you to ridicule, as the rude
petulance of your disposition has to contempt. Your solicitude
about the title of Her Excellency for Mrs. Tryon, and the arrogant
reception you gave to a respectable company at an entertainment of
your own making, seated with your lady by your side on elbow-
GOVERNOR TRYON. g5
chairs, in the middle of the ball-room, bespeak a littleness of mind,
which, believe me, Sir, when blended with the dignity and impor-
tance of your office, renders you truly ridiculous.
" High stations have often proved fatal to those who have been
promoted to them ; yours, Sir, has proved so to you. Had you been
contented to pass through life in a subordinate military character;
with the private virtues you have, you might have lived serviceable
to your country, and reputable to yourself; but. Sir, when, with
every disqualifying circumstance, you took upon you the govern-
ment of a province, though you gratified your ambition, you made a
sacrifice of yourself.
" Yours, &c.
"ATTICUS."
Note to Chapter First.
The most indispensable duty of a writer of history is to give au-
thority for what he states ; but I have been compelled in the first
chapter to omit it. The pages of Martin would sustain all I have
written ; but then he gives no particular reference to any authority
whatever, except a general enumeration at the close of each chap-
ter. I examined Martin's " History of the Revolution," during the
last summer, with the Council Journal before me, and found him
generally accurate. Indeed, he actually copied in his text the very
language of all the manuscript he consulted ; and yet he is some-
times in error, as in the case of the death of Judge Berry, whom he
represents as living during the Wilmington sedition in the month of
February, whereas he committed suicide on the first of January,
1766. The remote cause of his death was a duel, but not the one
stated by Martin. The proceedings of the Assembly of 17C5 have
been taken out of the office of the Secretary of State by some Gothic
plunderer ; and, as the most rigid scrutiny should be instituted for
their recovery, I can only say, that Judge Martin seems to have
once examined them, and that that circumstance will serve to note
a period when they did exist.
I have a letter from Colonel John Ashe to John Harvey, dated
the 3d of August, 1765, in which the excitement of that period is
noticed and a mention made of the sudden prorogation of the
Assembly.
6*
CHAPTER 11
THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR MARTIN.
JosiAH Martin had attained to the rank of Major in
the British army, when he was appointed Governor of
North Carolina. The Royal government, besides the ex-
ecutive officer and the Assembly, comprised a Council,
the members of which were recommended by the Gov-
ernor, and appointed by the King. It may be proper
at this time, to enumerate the members of that body, dur-
ing the administration of Martin. They constituted the
Upper House of the Legislature, and were dignified with
the title of " The Honorable The Council. " The Presi-
dent of the Council was the one first named in the King's
instructions, and was, in the absence of a Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor, the second officer of the government. The great
error in the constitution of the Council, was its depend-
ence on the executive, by virtue of his recommendatory
power in the appointment of its members. Intended as a
check on the other departments of the government, it thus
became but the tool of the Governor, and soon lost the
confidence of the people. I have attentively examined
the Council Journal of Tryon and Martin, and have observ-
ed but few instances of difference of opinion, between the
Governor and Council. The Council always advised as
they supposed the Governor desired, and acted even in
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 67
their legislative capacity, as the merest servants of his
will.
The Council.
James Hasell, Sir Nathaniel Duckinfield, Bart.
Lewis Henry De Rossett, John Sannpson,
Alexander McCulloh, William Dry,
Samuel Cornell, Martin Howard,
Marmaduke Jones, Samuel Strudwick,
John Rutherford, Thomas McGuire.
By their advice, the Governor convened, prorogued,
and dissolved the Assembly, and, while they were
in a legislative capacity, he exercised alone the pre-
rogative of a veto. And yet even an act of the pop-
ular House, that was fortunate enough to pass the or-
deal of a subservient Council, and escape the supercilious
veto of the Governor, was after all liable to the Royal dis-
sent. The voice of the people was indeed effectually
smothered in the intricate arrangement of such a govern-
ment. But the physical power was at last in their body.
The abstract right of rebellion, resistance, or nullification,
may be denied them, but their will is in the end the
source of force and of power.
In the course of this chapter, I shall discuss the various
quarrels between the Governor, and the popular House,
which distracted his administration to the last ; and I deem it
necessary here to remark, that I have examined the manu-
script volumes of the proceedings of the Assembly, in the
office of the Secretary of State. I am so much indebted to
those massive volumes, as well as to the Council Journal, *
that I here in the beginning acknowledge the obligation.
* There is no way of citing these books, there being no figures to
the pages. I have quoted by dates in the text, which will serve the
purpose of reference.
(58 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
This, together with other incidental matter, will bring
the history of Martin's administration down to the 1st of
April, 1774.
The battle of AUemance was fought on the 1 6th of May ;
and although this victory suppressed the rebellion of the
Regulation, yet it did not destroy the existence of that party,
which will still occasionally appear as one element, in the
general dissatisfaction of the people. Their leaders after
their defeat, had fled beyond the reach of the vengeance
of Tryon, and the people had returned to their homes,
and the peaceable cultivation of their farms. The re-
spectability of their numbers, as well as the violent strife of
the late contest, had impressed the government with some
degree of respect for their complaints. The first official
duty of Governor Martin was to notice the Regulators,
and to denounce in a proclamation the frauds and extor-
tions of the officers of the Province. The conduct of his
Excellency was mild and conciliatory, and even this lauda-
ble humanity alienated the affections of many of the
most eminent adherents of his predecessor. The vio-
lence of the Regulation had engendered irreconcilable
difficulties among the ranks of the people, and generated
a spirit of persecution, more injurious than even the rav-
ages of the rival armies. The proclamation of the Gover-
nor extinguished this licentious spirit, and extended an as-
surance of the protection of the law to all who should be
oppressed by the extortions of its officers.
The meagre page of Williamson imputes the vulgar feel-
ings of envy and jealousy to Governor IMartin, as the mo-
tives of his clemency, and accuses him of censuring the
administration of Governor Tryon, as a means of securing
the loyalty of the Regulators * The popularity or
Williamson's North Carolina, Vol. II., p. 163.
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 69
power of Tryon was well illustrated by the magnifi-
cence of his palace, the devotion of the popular House
of the Assembly, and the submissive obedience of the
people in the eastern section of the State. For more than
five years, he was supported by the coordinate branches
of the government in a career of extravagance and ex-
tortion, which would, even at the present day, provoke the
resistance of the people, and the wisdom and humanity,
and not the vulgar ambition, of Governor Martin was ex-
hibited in a condemnation of his course. A story was in-
dustriously circulated among the Regulators, that their
complaints and suff*erings had reached the Throne, and
that Tryon had been removed from the enjoyment of the
luxury of his splendid palace, as a mark of royal censure ;
and this fiction, confirmed by the conduct of Martin, pro-
duced a singular revolution of parties throughout the Prov-
ince. From the most inveterate hatred and opposition,
the Regulators were converted to an enthusiastic support
of the Provincial government, and, " with all the zeal,
which new and fiery converts feel," embraced the standard
of the King.
Such were the propitious omens that distinguished the
entrance of Governor MarUn on the duties of his office.
On the 19th of November, the Assembly in its second
session, met, for the first time, the newly appointed Gover-
nor, and reciprocated the congratulations and compliments,
which adorned his first official speech.^ Richard Caswell,
who had been elected speaker of the popular House at
its former session, was again at his post, and in that situa-
* Journal of the 2nd session of the Assembly of 1770 and 1771 '
in the office of the Secretary of State at Raleigh.
70 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
ation was as much an object of public attention, as the chief
magistrate himself. One of the generals of Governor
Tryon, in the war of tlie Regulation, he had been distin-
guished by the personal friendship and confidence of his su-
perior, and enjoyed all the advantages and distinctions in-
cident to such an honor. In the same body was John Ashe,
who was likewise one of the generals ofTryon, and whose
wounds* in the battle of Allemance, though not so fatal,were
more numerous, than those of any of the heroes of that day.
He had played a conspicuous part in the opposition to the
Stamp Act, and was the leader of the people against Gover-
nor Tryon in the celebrated Wilmington sedition, on the oc-
casion of the arrival of the Stamp ship in January, 1766.
Hugh Waddell, too, was a member of the popular House
of this Assembly, and was a coadjutor^ of John Ashe
in the Wilmington sedition, as well as in the Regulation.
He was the most distinguished soldier of the Province,
and had acquired great reputation as a skilful and brave
commander in the great French war. Cornelius Harnett,
" the Samuel Adams of North Carolina," represented the
town of Wilmington, Samuel Johnston the county of Chow-
an, Willie Jones the town of Halifax, Joseph Hewes the
town of Edenton, Abner Nash the county of Halifax, and
John Harvey the county of Perquimons.f These, too,
with die exception of the latter gentleman, had strictly
adhered to the party of Tryon during the Regulation, and
publicly lamented his removal to New York, as a calamity
to the Province, over which he had so long presided.
Such being the character of the popular House, a pru-
* Martin's History of North Carolina, Vol. II. pp. 210, 211.
t Journal of the Assembly of 1770 and 1771, 2nd session.
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 71
dent politician would observe the danger of any other
course, than an unqualified approval of the administration
of Tryon ; and the speech of Governor Martin accordingly
alluded to " the lustre of his predecessor's character," and
solicited " the generous and loyal support which had been
yielded to that gentleman." The Regulators, however,
were not' without a representation, even in this session of
the Assembly. Herman Husband, their chief and general,
had been elected a member at the last election, and serv-
ed a part of the session ; but on his defeat at Allemance,
he had fled beyond the limits of the Province, and was at
this time the subject of a Proclamation of outlawry.
Thomas Person, however, was still a member of the
House from Granville. In the sagacity and intrepidity of
this extraordinary man, the principles of liberty, and not
the principles of a party, found a fearless and efficient
advocate. He was the champion of the whig principles
of North Carolina, from the passage of the Stamp Act to
the terminaton of the Revolution, and adhered to the cause
of the people in every emergency. He was a leading
Regulator; and, although overcome* by the defeat of his
party at Allemance, and personally insulted by the minions
and understrappers of Tryon, he still maintained the consis-
tency and dignity of his character, more by his own ener-
gy and the love of the people, than by the favor or mer-
cy of his opponents. Associated with him as a member
of the House, was Maurice Moore, one of the Judges of
the Superior Court of the Province, a citizen, who was
remarkable for his love of learning and liberty, and who
was known to have sympathized with the Regulators.
* I do not mean to say that he was at the battle of Allemance.
72 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
In the great riot at Hillsborough, in September, 1770, when
Martin Howard was driven from the Bench, and Ed-
mund Fanning personally chastised, the rioters respected
the character of Judge Moore, and this is not the only-
evidence of his sympathy with the party of Thomas Per-
son. Husband, in his History of the Regulation, publishes
a letter from Judge Moore to Fanning, in which he de-
nies the charge that he had encouraged the rebellion, al-
though the author had prefaced the letter with a decla-
ration, that he had encouraged it, and that the Tryon
party were endeavouring to frighten him out of his pur-
pose. The number of members of the House favorable
to the Regulation was too few to constitute a regular party,
and the prudence of the two leaders was exercised in
preserving those that remained from the persecution of
their enemies. In the course of these observations, I
have intentionally omitted the names of two of the most
decided Whigs of the House, men whose chivalry will be
celebrated in another portion of this volume, and whose
patriotism was then, as afterwards in 1775, prover-
bial. Thomas Polk and Abraham Alexander repre-
sented the county of Mecklenburg, in the popular house of
this Assembly. The first conceived the independence of
his country, and first avowed the propriety of dissolving
the political bonds, which connected us with the mother
country, of abjuring all political connexion with a nation
that had wantonly trampled on our rights and liberties,
and inhumanly shed the innocent blood of Americans at
Lexington. The other citizen and patriot presided over
the deliberations of the Convention, which, on the 20th
of May, 1775, proclaimed these opinions as the sense
of the people of Mecklenburg. Such names could not be
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 73
enumerated in a computation of the strength of the Whig
party in any other State, although even these are not no-
ticed by any of " the historians of the adjacent Slates."
I now propose to submit a (ew observations, on the
proceedings of the popular House of the Assembly, whereof
those, whom I have mentioned, were leading members.
The veil of oblivion, in accordance with the recommenda-
tion of Governor Martin, was drawn over the past unhappy
troubles, and all the animosities and distinctions, which
they created. The indomitable spirit of Thomas Person
would, however, occasionally exhibit itself, whenever the
interest or character of the Regulators was in danger.
Maurice Moore, whom I have mentioned as Judge, as
well as a member of the House, petitioned for leave of
absence to attend his court at Wilmington, when Thomas
Person objected to it, and with a few of his personal friends
succeeded in detaining his old coadjutor as a member of the
House. Person seemed to have been under an apprehen-
sion, that a loss of the presence and influence of Judge
Moore would leave him in the hands of his eneniies,
and enable them to visit on his head some of the worn-
out denunciations of Governor Tryon. The House re-
solved, however, to record the names of those who voted
against the leave of absence to Judge Moore ; and it stands
recorded on the Journal of the second session of tlie popu-
lar House of the Assembly of 1770 and 1771, that Thomas
Person, Griffith Rutherford, William Moore, Thomas Neill,
James Picket, Robert Lanier, and Isaac Brooks were the
nays on that simple question. On the 28th of November,
Judge Moore introduced a bill in favor of the Regulators,
which proposed a general pardon of all who had been
concerned in said rebellion, and to prevent vexatious suits
7
74 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
and prosecutions ; and die favorable reception of the bill
by the House may be considered the final termination of
that protracted controversy.
There was one question mooted during this session of
the Assembly, the discussion of which fortunately separated
Richard Caswell, Thomas Person, and the popular House,
as a distinct party from the Governor and his friends.
The people of the Province had, for many years, suffered
tlie most intolerable oppression on account of the entire
absence of a sound circulating medium ; and this public
grievance, together with the oppressions of the officers of
the government, was the subject of the complaints of the
Regulators. A statement of the public funds being exhib-
ited by Mr. Burgwin, it appeared that the public officers
had collected a larger amount for the redemption of the bills
issued by the Assemblies of 1748 and 1754, than even
their nominal value, and that there was still a balance in
favor of the people of more than four thousand pounds.
With this statement before them, the popular House pass-
ed a bill discontinuing the poll tax, and the duty on liquors,
which had been laid to raise a fund for the assumption of
the ^^ paper ^"^ issued, and directed, in the same bill, the
immediate redemption of the '•'"paj^er^'' which was still in
circulation.
The fact that so large an amount of money had been
collected under the pretence of redeeming the '■^ paper " is-
sued, seemed to have been for the first time disclosed.
The bill to discontinue these illegal taxes was introduced
by Samuel Johnston of Edenton, and was immediately
and unanimously passed. The Council, too, (not how-
ever without a division) passed the bill ; but when the
House presented it for the assent of the Governor, he re-
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 75
jected it. This seeming inattention to the distresses of the
people was noticed by the House in the more official form
of a resolution, declaring, that the aforesaid taxes and du-
ties had served the purposes for which they were imposed,
and ought to be discontinued. The Governor dissolved the
Assembly on the 23d of December, the day on which the
resolution of the House had been adopted, and, on the
29th of January succeeding, issued a proclamation, in the
peroration of which he charged the officers to disobey the
instructions of the popular House, and to execute the acts
of 1748 and 1754, until they should be repealed formally
and according to law. The party distinctions, drawn by the
agitation of this question, lasted during the continuance
of the government, and, under the guidance of Johnston,
Caswell, Person, and their coadjutors, soon acquired
strength and boldness sufficient to assail the existence of
the Royal government.
(1772.) The year 1772 was spent by Governor
Martin in visiting the different sections of the Province ;
and, if these gubernatorial tours had been prompted by a
better motive than a love of pomp and the gratification
of a vulgar pride, the ignorance, which he subsequently
displayed of the spirit of the people over whom he was
placed, might have been less conspicuous. The year roll-
ed over without a meeting of the Assembly ; and the only
political event, which occurred in the Province, was the
election of members to the popular House. Such was
the triumph of the Whig party, that in many of the counties
there was no opposition to the election of the old leaders,
nor could the Governor be said to possess a party, power-
ful enough to affect either an election before the people, or
the passage of a bill before the Assembly. Fully aware
76 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
of the gloomy prospect before liiiii, — the friends of Tryon
incensed at his abundant censure of the policy of that offi-
cer's administration, and Thomas Person and Maurice
Moore, the two idolaters of liberty, too pure to be gained,
either by his flatteries or his bribes, — Martin, with the ad-
vice of the Council, avoided the violence of the storm by an
extension of the period for the meeting of the Assembly.
The writs of election were returnable on the 1 1th of May,
and, only a few days before the time for its meeting, the
Assembly was prorogued to the 1 0th of December.
In the mean time, his Excellency had executed a com-
mission of the King by the appointment of commissioners
to run the southward boundary line of the Province, which
measure had been expressly forbidden by the popular
House, and a committee, consisting of Cornelius Harnett,
Robert Howe, and Maurice Moore, appointed to prepare an
address to his Majesty on the ruinous consequences of such
a step. The reply of Martin to the refusal of the House to
make the appropriation necessary for the execution of the
commission, expressed a deep regret, lest the King should
be displeased that his royal and solemn determination
should be disregarded, and promised to lay faithfully be-
fore his Royal Majesty the representations of the House.
This latter clause, especially as his own influence at court
which was represented, in the message of refusal, as being
beyond all calculation, was earnestly invoked, was construed
by the House as a promise not to proceed to the execu-
tion of the commission, until their representations received
the consideration of the Throne. This course, so well calcu-
lated to harass the already excited feelings of the leading
men of every party, was viewed by the friends of Gover-
nor Tryon, as an insidious effort of Martin to disparage
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 77
the reputation of their old general. The boundary line
proposed to be run was the conception of Lord Charles
Montague, * who, in 1768, proposed it to Tryon, as
the permanent boundary of the two Carolinas. Tryon
not only condemned it as ruinous to his own Province, but
wrote to the Secretary of State, setting forth his objec-
tions at ' large. In the year 1770, however. Lord Mon-
tague contrived to obtain the commission, which Gover-
nor Martin was so eager to execute, and which Governor
Tryon had so frequently, and indeed so justly, condemn-
ed, as a calamity to the Province. It was a gross de-
ception of the House to assure them that their representa-
tions should reach the Throne, and an unauthorized stretch
of power to proceed to execute such a commission, before
those representations had received the King's disallowance.
The Province was condemned unheard, not only by the
ministers at home, but by its own chief magistrate. Thus
the prospects of the Governor grew darker and darker, as
the period for the meeting of the Assembly approached.
Starting, as it were, from the unbroken phalanx, which
seemed already arrayed, he again shrunk from the contest,
and prorogued the Assembly to the 6th of January, 1773.
(1773.) The new Assembly did not, however, convene
in New Berne until the 25th of January, and the popular
House illustrated its political character by the election of
John Harvey, one of the most distinguished Whigs of the
Province, to the office of Speaker. I can but admire the
quaint, and yet dignified manner, in which the popular
House was at that period organized. The first step after
the qualification of the members (which was always done
* Council Journal of Tryon, in 1768.
7*
78 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
in the presence of two of the Council, appointed on that
duty by the Governor,) was to depute two of the members
to wait on his Excellency, and inform him, that they had
qualified, and awaited his commands. The next step was
a verbal message from the Governor, by his private Secre-
tary, requiring their immediate attendance in the palace.
The whole body then proceeded to the palace, and en-
joyed a most fashionable call of a few moments, after
which the Governor would direct them to return, and
make choice of a Speaker. The next step was, " Mr.
Richard Caswell proposed and set up John Harvey, Es-
quire, who was unanimously chosen Speaker, and placed
in the chair accordingly." Two members again visited the
palace, and desired to know when they should wait on his
Excellency, to present their Speaker, and always received
in reply, that he would send a message when he would
receive them.
In a few moments (as in the present case with Mr. Big-
gleston), the private Secretary arrived, requiring their im-
mediate attendance in the palace. The House then pro-
ceeded as directed, and formally presented their Speaker,
" whom His Excellency was pleased to approve." " Then
Mr. Speaker requested His Excellency to confirm the
rights and privileges of the House, that no mistake or
error of his might be imputed to the House ; to which
His Excellency was pleased to answer, he would support
the House in all their just rights and privileges, and then
made a speech to his Majesty's Council and the House."
On the return of the members, the Speaker informed them
that His Excellency had made a speech to the Council
and the House, a copy of which, to prevent mistakes, he
had procured, and begged leave to lay before them. The
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 79
speech was then read, and a committee appointed to prepare
an address in answer, and then, and then only, the House
proceeded to the despatch of public business. How com-
pletely have, not only the principles, but the empty and inno-
cent forms of the British Government shrunk before the
renovating spirit of our great revolution ! Ever changing
as it is,-the lapse of a century may leave for the curiosity of
the antiquarian, the habits and opinions of those whose old
age is associated with the recollections of our childhood.
The most heroic deeds, the consequence of which would be
felt for ages in any other clime, are acted only to be forgot-
ten, and like the fashions of legislation, or of dress, yield
to the new and startling things that flash around us.
To the new Assembly, the organization of which I have
thus detailed, many of those whose names I have enume-
rated as leading members of the House in 1771, were
returned. Thomas Polk and Abraham Alexander were
not members of this Assembly, the first having been em-
ployed in the service of the Governor, and the latter not
having solicited the suffrages of the people. The county of
Mecklenburg was, in this Assembly, represented by Martin
Phifer and John Davidson ; and at this period, too, Wil-
liam Hooper made his appearance as a member from the
rotten borough of Campbelton. The character of this
eminent patriot seemed to have been well appreciated,
even at this early day. He was, in conjunction with Cas-
well and Howe of Brunswick, appointed on a committee to
prepare the answer of the House to the speech of the Gov-
ernor, and was the chairman of the committee on the Court
system, the most important station, next to the Speak-
er's chair, to which a member could be called. On the
28th of January he introduced a bill for the relief of in-
80 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
solvent debtors, in which he proposed to qualify the law
for the imprisonment of iheir persons. During the whole
session he was considered one of the leading members,
and esteemed as a valuable acquisition to the Whig party in
the House.
The great power entrusted to the Royal Governors by
the authority of the King, and the exercise of which so fre-
quently trammelled the legislation of the popular House, was
a source of incessant and angry contention. The right of
an absolute veto on the acts of the Assembly was a power
sufficiently vexatious, and, combined with that of pro-
roguing or dissolving at pleasure the whole Assembly,
made him virtually the sovereign of the Province. In
this Assembly, as in all others for the previous twenty
years, opposition to such a right was the test of " loyalty to
the 'people " ; and by various means the leading Whigs of
the State had, during that time, striven to fortify the Assem-
bly and the courts against the encroachment of this para-
lytic power. A bill was introduced by Robert Howe of
Brunswick, aimed at this prerogative of the Governor, and
which proposed to establish triennial Assemblies, and to
regulate elections. The proposition of course stood no
chance of becoming a law, whilst the Governor retained
the right of a veto, although such was the ardent and
unanimous desire of the people of the Province. But, if the
too frequent exercise of these high powers restrained the
action of the popular House, the Governor not unfrequently
found the refusal of the assent of that body, in cases where
it was indispensable, such as appropriations, a source of
great mortification, and sometimes of official degradation.
On the 17th of February, " a claim upon the public, for
one hundred and seventy-two pounds, ten shillings, being
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 81
presented to the House in behalf of Thomas Polk, for
services, said to be done this colony, as surveyor, in run-
ning the dividing line between North and South Carolina,
the House, having taken the same into consideration,
Resolved, That, as the last Assembly so fully expressed
the sense they had of the injury that would accrue to this
colony, -should the line then proposed to be run be carried
into execution, and as this House are actuated by the
same sentiments, they cannot by any means consider any
persons employed in that service, as the servants of this
community, and consequently cannot think them entided to
any allowance from this colony for lending aid to execute
a measure so detrimental to its interest." * This extract
will explain, not only the inflexibility of the House, but the
cunning of the Governor. In execuUng the commission
he had appointed a man, distinguished for his great popu-
larity, both in the House and among the people, and hoped,
by thrusting his claims forward, to obtain an acknowledg-
ment of the claims of the other commissioners, through the
influence of the name of Thomas Polk. The House, how-
ever, sustained the ground taken by their predecessors ; nor
did even Mr. Polk escape without the reprimand contained
in the last clause of the extract. At a later period of the ses-
sion, the Governor, by a message, insisted on the allowance
of the claims of the commissioners, and promised his in-
fluence at court, which he had been persuaded was immense,
to procure an abandonment of the boundaries established
in the commission. The House, however, still maintained
its purpose, and the Governor was left to his own resources
to compensate (if he did compensate) the board of corn-
Journal of the Assembly of 1773, February 17th.
82 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
raissioners. In this he learnt a s;ihitary lesson, that the voice
of those over whom he presided must he respected, and
that arhitrary power must, with its own means, support its
own high-handed acts.
On the 27th of February, Governor Martin introduced
to the notice of the House the pecuniary losses of the ce-
lebrated Edmund Fanning, a n;une remarkable in the
annals of the State, for all the vices that degrade the most
abandoned and profligate minion. To his wicked abuse
of the responsible office of Recorder of Deeds for the coun-
ty of Orange, a station which he held during the whole
period of the administration of Governor Tryon, the war
of the Regulation was more than to any other cause indebt-
ed for its origin. By the success of his vicious designs,
nearly all the estates of Orange were loaded with doubts
as to their titles, with exorbitant fees for recording the
new and unnecessary deeds, and high taxes to support a
government which protected his wickedness. Amidst the
ravages of the Regulation, as might have been expected,
neitlier his person nor his property was respected ; and,
after the battle of Allemance, he conmienced suits against
divers persons " for the great injuries done his property
during that unhappy rebellion." Governor Martin, whose
clemency towards the Regulators I have already remarked,
fearing (to use his own language) lest those suits might have
a tendency to keep alive the dissension, did recommend
it to that gentleman to withdraw his prosecutions, and to
expect reparation from the equity of the legislaure. Such,
however, was the odium of his name, that Mr. Fanning's
claim was peremptorily refused, and the Governor informed
that it it was inconsistent with the dignity of the House to
give such importance to Mr. Fanning's private losses, as
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 83
to make ihem the subject of public deliberation. His
name, I am of opinion, is not again associated with the
events of our history, save in the confiscation act of 1777.
In the course of this session, the vexed question of a
Court law was agitated, and a bill, framed upon liberal
principles, adopted by the popular House. No subject in
the whole political history of North Carolina was ever the
source of more contention, than the Court system under
the Royal Governors. For more than twenty years be-
fore the Revolution, the popular House and the Governors
were divided on the details of a bill to establish Courts of
Law. The courts, when established, were limited to the
existence of a few years, at the expiration of which time
the violence of the strife again commenced. The con-
troversy harassed the declining years of Governor Dobbs
in 1762, was again renewed in 1768, and was, now
for the last time, the source of contention between the
people and the Royal Governor. The essence of this
controversy was the independence of the Associate Judges,
and the right of attaching the property of non-residents,
which was claimed by the House as an indispensable pow-
er. The latter subject was at this time, however, the
most prominent in the dispute, and continued to be so dur-
ing the existence of the royal government. In the latter
part of this period, the Province was without courts, and
the people depended on tribunals of Oyer and Terminer,
and an Inferior Court palsied by the restrictions of the Go-
vernor and Council, for the peace of the community, and
the adjudication of their causes. Wearied with this slate
of anarchy and confusion, they gladly embraced the cause
of the Revolution, and carried into its support and defence
much of the enthusiasm and zeal, which they acquired in
the violent contentions on the Court-law controversy.
84 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
There was, however, one bill framed in the House, by
a committee under instructions, which, after some little dis-
pute between the House and the Council, was passed by
the assent of the Governor. It contained a clause sus-
pending, its effect until the King's pleasure was known,
and, as it was disallowed by his Majesty, deserves only to
be mentioned, as a means of illustrating the position of the
parties in the famous attachment controversy. The in-
structions of the House, upon which the bill was framed,
exhibit a disposition to abridge the power of the officers
of the court not responsible to the people, and to increase
the jurisdiction of those who were more dependent on
their will. In the contest, the House endeavoured to im-
pair the influence of the executive, by taking from the
Superior Court the mass of petty business, which crowded
its docket, and to give to the Inferior Courts, not only
that species of business, but exclusive jurisdisiion in all
administration and testamentary matters. The Judges of
the Superior Court, being the Chief Justice, appointed by
the Crown, and two Associates, appointed virtually by the
Governor, were more liable to be the favorites of His Ex-
cellency, and his faithful Council, than the Judges of the
Inferior tribunals, who were, of necessity, directly from
the people. The hill contemplated three distinct tribunals,
the Superior and County Courts, and the jurisdiction of an
Esquire out of court to the value of five pounds. It vest-
ed the appointment of the clerks of the Superior Courts, a
power which had been exercised by the clerk of the Crown,
in the Chief Justice, and prohibited the clerks of the pleas
from selling the clerkship of the Inferior Courts. The
Council sought to insert divers amendments, when the bill
was before them, and, among them, one softening the rigor
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 85
of the attachment process, which, in North Carolina,
as in the other Provinces, prevailed in all its severity.
It was the only one of the amendments, which met the ap-
probation of the House, and its success, no doubt, embold-
ened the Council to undertake, subsequently, its absolute
overthrow. The bill with its suspending clause became a
law, ancf enacted that with reference to *' attachments,
where the defendants resided in Europe, proceedings
should be stayed before plea, one year."
Martin Howard, the Chief Justice, assisted by Maurice
Moore and Richard Henderson, Associate Justices, presid-
ed on tlie Bench of the Superior Court, which was to ex-
pire by limitation at the close of the present session of the
Assembly ; and the House, foreseeing the disastrous state
of things, which the entire absence of all courts would cre-
ate, passed separate bills to renew and continue the acts
of 176S, which established the existing tribunals. The
Council, however, sought this, the first opportunity, to urge
the entire abandonment of the attachment process, and,
borrowing the very language of the King's instructions in
the phraseology of their amendment, proposed an excep-
tion of" the estates of such persons as had never resided
in the Province, from the process of attachment, other-
wise than according to the laws and statutes of England,
and that every clause and section in the before recited
act, contrary thereto, should thenceforth be repealed."
This is the point upon which the angry dispute arose, and
upon which the proposed measure failed.
In the various messages which passed between the Coun-
cil and the House, on this amendment, the former body
declared, that its only object was to preserve the equality
of the laws of the colony and the mother country, and that
86 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
therefore their amendment was so framed as to give to citi-
zens of the Province the benefit of attachments, as they
existed in England, and that what that right was, the courts
of law could decide. In responding to this argument, the
House declared that the right of attachment existed in
England only as a franchise or privilege, and belonged
only to a few of the oldest towns, and of course could not
by any analogy be applied to the Province by the courts of
law. They pronounced it a right, the existence of which
was essential to the security of the property and the com-
mercial prosperity of the Province, and one which they
could not surrender. The right would, indeed, seem to
have been indispensable to the security of all contracts
with non-residenls, who, from the absence of their persons,
left no other security than their property in the Province,
upon the faith of which they had obtained credit. It was
on the 2d of March, that the House addressed an ar-
gumentative message to the Council, contending with great
ability for the right of attachment, and concluding with
the following temperate and dignified appeal ; " The
House bears the fullest testimony to the necessity of
courts of law, and the disadvantages, which must arise
from a failure of the due distinction of justice on the cri-
minal and civil side, are too obvious to be mentioned.
They doubt not but your House equally feel for the honor
and interest of this Province, and, conscious of the bene-
fits, that have been derived to us from the right we
have hitherto had of attaching the effects of foreigners,
that you will not part with a provision, founded on the
principles of mutual, reciprocal justice, the privation of
which must necessarily destroy that confidence and cre-
dit to foreigners and our neighbour colonists, upon which
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 87
the trade and prosperity of this Province essentially de-
pend." — Journal of the House, 1773.
The Council rejected the Superior Court bill, and af-
ter an unavailing attempt to insert their amendment in the
Inferior Court act, concluded to pass the latter, as the only
means of preserving the peace of the Province. Governor
Martin, on the instructions of the King, refused his as-
sent even to that, and thus destroyed the last hope of sus-
taining the administration of the law. On the 6ih of
March, the House came to the unanimous resolution, that
the right of attaching the effects of foreigners had proved
highly beneficial to the people of the Province, and that
they could not relinquish it without abandoning the inter-
est of their constituents, and the peace and happiness of
the colony. A variety of causes occurred, during the first
days of March, to harass the mind of the Governor, and,
combined with the above resolution, provoked, on the
day of its passage, the prorogation of the Assembly.
The distresses of Mr. Fanning, and the exciting topic of
the Southern boundary, had been again introduced by His
Excellency ; and the positive refusal of the House to ap-
prove of either inflicted (to use his own language) "those
painful sensations, that must sting every honest mind, for
he saw himself the purchaser of a benefit to the public
at the price of doing an essential although an undesign-
ed v^^rong."
The instructions, which the House, on the day of its pro-
rogation, gave their committee of correspondence, to serve
also as instructions to Henry Eustace McCulloh, the agent
of the Province, resident in London, were principally found-
ed on the attachment and Southern boundary controversy.
88 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
Mr. McCulloh was instructed to lay before the Throne
the principles upon which the House had acted in these
two cases, and to endeavour to procure the Royal assent
to the act with the suspending clause. The Speaker
with the House waited on His Excellency at the palace,
at six o'clock, on the 6th of March, and, after presenting
a large number of bills, for his assent, the whole Assembly
was prorogued for three days. Accordingly on the 9lh,
the Council being in session, the following events took
place, which I shall extract from the Council Journal of
that date.
*< His Excellency acquainted the Council, that, having on Saturday
prorogued the Assembly to this present Tuesday in order to give
them a fair opportunity to reconsider the state of the colony and to
proceed to the despatch of public business, he was this morning
informed by their clerk that there were not members enough in
town to make a House. His Excellency communicated to the
board the Royal instructions which constitute fifteen a Quorum,
and advised with them whether he should send a message to the
Speaker to acquaint the House therewith, and that he was ready
to proceed to business with that number ; to this they unanimously
agreed, and the following message was sent, — viz.
" ' Mr. Speaker of the House of Assembly,
" ' Having received information this morning by the clerk of the
Assembly, that there were not members in town sufficient to make a
House, I am to inform you that, by His Majesty's Royal instruc-
tions to me, fifteen members of the House of Assembly make a
Quorum, and that I am ready to proceed upon the public business
with such Quorum.'
" To which message his Excellency, receiving an immediate an-
swer, was pleased to communicate the same to the Council, viz.
"'Sir,
" ' In answer to your Excellency's message I am to inform you,
that it is the opinion of the members of the Assembly now in town,
that it is not consistent with the duty they owe their constituents
GOVERNOR MARTIN. S9
to proceed to make a House, unless there be a majority of the
Representatives of the people to constitute the same.
" ' I am, &c.
<« * To his Excellency, S^c. JOHN HARVEY.
"'.Vezo Berne, 9th March, 1773.'
" His Excellency then proposed to send another message to the
Speaker to know if he had any expectation of more members ar-
riving this day, which being approved by the Council was thus
expressed.
" * Mr. Speaker of the House of Assembly,
"* I desire to know whether you have or have not expectation or
assurance that more members of the House of Assembly than are
now in town will appear this day to carry on the public business
of the country. JO. MARTIN.'
" Soon after his Excellency imparted to the Council the Speaker's
answer to the above message, viz.
" ' Sir,
" ' I am to inform you that I have not the least expectation of the
arrival of any members, and most of those who are now in Town
are preparing to return home.
" ' I am, &c.
«' ' To his Excellency, i,~c. JOHN HARVEY, Speaker:
" The Council then came to the resolution, that, as the House
had deserted their duty and flagrantly insulted the dignity and author-
ity of government after the invitation of the Governor to return to
their business, His Excellency had no alternative left but to dis-
solve the Assembly, v/hich was accordingly done, and a new one
called on the succeeding 1st of May."
The dissolution of the Assembly left the Province with-
out any other form of government than an irresponsible
executive and his faithful Council. They endeavoured to
supply the place of the courts of justice by commissioners
of Oyer and Terminer, and even this step contributed to
strengthen the opposition to the Governor. It was viewed
as an effort on his part to show the people, that the courts
could be continued and the whole administration of the gov-
ernment sustained without the aid of their Representatives.
8*
90 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
Throughout the whole controversy the Council had acted
on the authority of the King's instructions, which the Gov-
ernor had laid before them, and which contained a posi-
tive prohibition as to attachments on the property of non-
residents. I shall here introduce those instructions, and
although I may justify the conduct of his Excellency, as
founded on the orders of his master, yet I cannot acquit
the Council of the charge of submissively following the will
of the Governor in a cause, so vitally affecting the interest
and happiness of the people of the province.
") " Additional instructions to our trusty and well be-
" George R. > loved Josiah Martin, Esq., our Captain General and
^ Governor in Chief in and over our Province of North
Carolina in America. Given at our Court at St. James', the fourth
day of February, 1772, in the twelfth of our reign.
"Whereas, laws have been passed in some of our colonies and
plantations in America, by which the lands, tenements, goods, chat-
tels, rights, and credits of persons, who have never resided within
the colonies where such laws have been passed, have been made
liable to be attached for the recovery of debts, in a manner different
from that allowed by the law of England in like cases ; and whereas
it hath been represented unto us that such laws may have the con-
sequence to prejudice and obstruct the commerce between this king-
dom and our said colonies, and to affect public credit. It is there-
fore our will and pleasure that you do not on any pretence whatever
give your assent to, or pass any bill or bills in our province under
your government, by which the lands, tenements, goods, chattels,
rights, and credits of persons who have never resided within our
said Province shall be made liable to be attached by the recovery of
debts due from such persons otherwise than is allowed by law in
cases of a like nature within our kingdom of Great Britain, until
you shall first have transmitted to us, by one of our principal secre-
taries of state, the drafts of each bill or bills, and shall have received
our royal pleasure thereupon, unless you take care in the passing of
such bill or bills, that a clause or clauses be inserted therein sus-
pending and deferring the execution thereof, until our royal will and
pleasure shall be known thereupon. G. R." — Memoir of Josiah
Quincy, Jun.y p. 118.
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 91
The volume from which I have drawn the above state-
paper contains several pages on North Carolina, written
during the year 1773, and as I am anxious in the defence
of the State to cite the highest authority in her favor, I
embrace the opportunity to extract so much of the journal
of the distinguished subject of that Memoir as relates to
my native state. It will be found to be a flattering com-
pliment to many of her most distinguished sons, and will
be read with pleasure by many of their descendants, as
the worthiest testimony to the patriotism and virtue of their
forefathers.
" Lodged the last night in Brunswick, N. C, at the house of
William Hill, Esq., a most sensible, polite gentleman, and though a
crown officer, a man replete with sentiments of general liberty, and
warmly attached to the cause of American freedom.
" March '^Tth (1773.) Breakfasted with Colonel Dry, the collec-
tor of the customs, and one of the Council, who furnished me with
the following instructions given Governor Martin, and, as Col. Dry
told me Governor Martin said, to all the colony governors likewise."
{Then foil oics the paper just cited.)
« March 27th. Colonel Dry is a friend to the Regulators, and
seemingly warm against the measures of British and Continental
administrations. He gave me an entire different account of things
from what I had heard from others. I am now left to form my own
opinion, and am preparing for a water tour to Fort Johnston.
Yesterday was a most delightful day. — Fort Johnston is a delight-
ful situation.
" March 2Sth. I go to church this day at Brunswick, — hear W.
Hill read prayers, — dine with Colonel Dry, — proceed to-morrow
to Wilmington, and dine with Dr. Cobham with a select party.
Colonel Dry's mansion is justly called the house of universal hos-
pitality .
" March 29th. Dine at Dr. Thomas Cobham's, in company with
Harnett, Hooper, Burgwin, Dr. Tucker, &c., in Wilmington; lodg-
ed also at Dr. Cobham's, who has treated me with great politeness,
though an utter stranger, and one to whom I had no letters. Spent
the evenino- with the best company of the place.
92 THE ADMINISTRATIOiN OF
<' March 30th. Dined with about twenty at Mr. William Hooper's,
— find him apparently in the Whig interest, — has taken their side
in the House, — is caressed by the Whigs, and is now passing his
election through the influence of that party. Spent the night at
Mr. Harnett's, — the Samuel Adams of North Carolina (except in
point of fortune). Robert Howe, Esq., Harnett and myself made
the social triumvirate of the evening. The plan of continental cor-
respondence highly relished, much wished for, and resolved upon as
proper to be pursued.
" April 1st. Set out from Mr. Harnett's for Newbern.
" April 2d. Reached Newbern about eleven o'clock, A. M. Wait-
ed upon Judge Howard and spent about an hour with him. Did not
present the rest of my letters, because of the fine weather for trav-
elling, and no court of any kind sitting or even in being in the
province. Judge Howard waited upon me in the evening with
recommendatory letters to Colonel Palmer of Bath, and Colonel
Richard Buncombe of Tyrrell county.
" April 4th. Reached Bath in the evening, did not deliver my
letters, but proceeded next morning to Mr. Wingfield's parish, where
I spent the Sabbath.
" April 5th. Breakfasted with Colonel Buncombe,* who waited
upon me to Edenton Sound, and gave me letters to his friends there.
Spent this and the next day in crossing Albemarle Sound and in
dining and conversing in company with the most celebrated lawyers
of Edenton. From them I learned that Dr. Samuel Cooper of Boston
was generally (they said universally) esteemed the author of ' Leoni-
das,' who, together with ' Mucius Scaevola,' was burnt inefiigy under
the gallows by the common hangman. There being no courts of any
kind in this province, and no laws in force by which any could be
held, I found little inclination or incitement to stay long in Edenton,
though a pleasant town. Accordingly, a guide offering his directions
about evening, I left the place and proceeded just into the bounds
of Virginia, where I lodged the night. The soils and climates of the
Carolinas differ, but not so much as their inhabitants. The number
* I have heard an anecdote in North Carolina highly illustrative of
the hospitality of Colonel Buncombe, which I shall take the liberty
to record. On the arch of the outer gate of his mansion was in-
scribed the following distich :
" Welcome all
To Buncombe Hall."
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 93
of negroes and slaves is much less in North than in South Carolina.
Their staple commodity is not so valuable, not being in so great
demand as the rice, indigo, &c,, of the South Hence labor becomes
more necessary, and he who has an interest of his own to serve is a
laborer in the field. Husbandmen and agriculture increase in num-
ber and improvement. Industry is up in the woods at tar, pitch,
and turpentine ; in the fields, ploughing, planting, clearing, or
fencing the .land. Herds and flocks become more numerous. You
see husbandmen, yeomen, and white laborers scattered through the
country, instead of herds of negroes and slaves. Healthful counte-
nances and numerous families become more common, as you advance
north. Property is much more equally diffused in one province than
in the other, and this may account for some, if not for all the differ-
ences of character in the inhabitants. However, in one respect 1
find a pretty near resemblance between the two colonies ; I mean the
state of religion. It is certainly high time to repeal the laws rela-
tive to religion, and the observation of the Sabbath, or to see them
better executed. Avowed impunity to all offenders is one sign at
least, that the laws want amendment or abrogation. Alike as the
Carolinas are in this respect, they certainly vary much as to their
general sentiments, opinions, and judgments. The staple commodi-
ties of North Carolina are all kinds of naval stores, Indian corn,
hemp, flaxseed, some tobacco, which they generally send into Vir-
ginia, &c. The culture of wheat and rice is making quick pro-
gress, as a spirit of agriculture is rising fast. The favorite liquors
of the Carolinas are Claret and Port wines, in preference to Madeira
or Lisbon. The commerce of North Carolina is much diffused
through the several parts of the province. They in some respects
may be said to have no metropolis, though Newberne is called the
capital, as there is the seat of government It is made a question
which carries on the most trade, whether Edenton, Newberne, Wil-
mington, or Brunswick. It seems to be one of the two first. There
is very little intercourse between the northern and southern prov-
inces of Carolina. The present state of North Carolina is really
curious ; there are but five provincial laws in force through the col-
ony, and no courts at all in being. No one can recover a debt,
except before a single magistrate, where the sums are within his
jurisdiction, and offenders escape with impunity. The people are
in great consternation about the matter; what will be the conse-
quence is problematical." — Memoir of Josiah putney, Jun. pp. 117-
123.
94 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
The object of die (listin,2;uisliecl tourist seems to have
been the iiscertainrncnt of the views of the leading charac-
ters of the South on the project of a continental union.
The high praise which he awards to many of our eminent
citizens, and particularly the compliment to Mr. Harnett, I
could not but record in the pages of a volume dedicated to
the service and defence of the State. I cannot but regret
that he should have passed so rapidly through New Berne,
a city which was then, as it is now, distinguished for the
patriotism and hospitality of its inhabitants.
In the course of die summer of diis year a large colony
of Scotch ejnigrants arrived in Wilmington, and proceeded
up the Cape Fear River to Cross Creek, the present town
of Fayettevilie. That section of North Carolina from its
earliest settlement to the present time has been in the pos-
session of a Scotch population, presenUng within itself all
the varieties of wealth, comfortableness, and absolute pov-
erty. They preserve the " clannish " spirit of their nation,
and move in concert, in political affairs, more than any
portion of the population of the Slate. I have frequently
heard, even in North Carolina, imputations against the
patriotism of these people during the great struggle for
freedom, towards which my narradve is approaching ; and
although I am aware of the great degree of truth which
belongs to such accusations, I cannot subscribe to the
voice of indiscriminate denunciation. It was during the
month of November, 1747, that a considerable colony of
the adherents of the Pretender arrived in the Stale, and
formed a settlement on the banks of the Cape Fear, as far
up as Cross Creek. Many of these colonists were among
the most faithful Whigs, and served in every capacity dur-
ing the war. The colony which arrived during the sum-
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 95
mer of this year were attracted to the settlement of Cross
Creek by no other motive than the company of their coun-
trymen. The exiled adherents of the Pretender had no
new-born zeal in the cause of the House of Hanover, and
the little respect for British sovereignty which they retain-
ed was buried by the multitude of sympathies and local
attachments which so long a residence had inspired. The
purity of their American character was sullied, and their
principles affected, by the admission of this new colony so
recently from the mother country, and the Whigs were con-
demned on account of the large number of Tories found in
their society. Nor was each and every one of the new
colonists of the royal party. Many of them were soldiers,
and a few of them officers in the state army, the organi-
zation of which I shall detail in the course of this part of
my volume.
There were now three questions of absorbing interest to
the people of North Carolina which were unconnected
with the general causes of dissatisfaction prevailing in all the
Colonies, and which incensed them more against the pro-
vincial government than against that of the mother country.
The court controversy, the repeal of the acts of 1748 and
1754, laying a poll tax and a duly on liquors, and die South-
ern boundary question, were still the leading matters of
public deliberation. The very recollection of this last
inflamed the people against the Governor, and the most
prudent men of the Province saw with indignation the
immense loss sustained by the adoption of the boun-
dary line run by the commissioners. In the new Assembly
which convened during this year, and which was prorogued
after a session of only seventeen days, the court system
occupied nearly the whole period of public discussion.
96 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
The project of a continenial correspondence was sanc-
tioned, and a committee elected, but the ah important
question was, the salvation of the people from the jaws of
foreign speculators, by guarding and preserving inviolably
the right of attachment. The Assembly convened in New
Berne on the 4th of Dacember, and " Mr. John Camp-
bell of Bertie proposed and set up Colonel John Harvey
who was unanimously chosen Speaker, and placed in
the chair accordingly." The speech of Governor Mar-
tin was devoted exclusively to the court system. He
candidly disclosed the only principles upon which he
could assent to the court law, and declared that the limi-
tation of the original jurisdiction of the Superior Courts,
and the extension of that of the Inferior Courts of justice,
designed by the act of the last Assembly, were deemed
totally inadmissible. He introduced to the notice of the
House the propriety of making the necessary appropriation
to defray the charges incident to the Courts of Oyer and
Terminer, and especially to make provision for the judges,
suitable to their eminent services. Maurice Moore and
Richard Caswell had been appointed by his Excellency to
preside as Associates to Chief Justice Howard, and I need
not suggest the obvious policy of their appointment. He
knew full well the unpopularity of Martin Howard ; and,
apprehending the failure of an appropriation bill on that
account, he sought to achieve the success of his plans
through the influence of the names of Moore and Caswell.
In the answer of the House, however, not only were the
appropriations refused, but by the unanimous vote of the
House, of which both Moore and Caswell were members,
the right of the Governor to issue commissions of Oyer and
Terminer and general gaol delivery, without the aid of
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 97
the Assembly, was peremptorily denied. In the same pa-
per His Excellency was informed that the mode of issuing
attachments which he had recommended, was such as they
could not adopt, and would not, if adopted, prove an ade-
qua e remedy for the mischiefs intended to be obviated.
Such were the respective positions of the popular
House and the Governor on the 9th of December.
We perceive at once the absolute impossibility of estab-
lishing courts of law, and the almost inevitable destruc-
tion of the then existing government. Even without the
cooperation or sympathy of the other Colonies on other
points of more general (but not of deeper) interest, that
government must have fallen. If it had not been anni-
hilated by force, it would have withered away for the want
of the nourishment of courts of law.
On the 6th of December, the Speaker acquainted the
House that he had received sundry letters and resolutions
from the Provinces of Massachusetts Bay, Virginia, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, and the counties on the Delaware,
proposing to establish in each Province a committee of
correspondence. The prudence and experience of Mr.
Harvey, induced him to keep the reception of these docu-
ments concealed from the members of the House gen-
erally, as well as from the people at large. In the Spring
of 1765, while the popular House was agitating the Stamp
Act, and on the eve of electing delegates to the New York
Congress, Governor Tryon prorogued the Assembly, and
thus prevented the action of the Representatives of the
people. For nearly two years he refrained from the con-
vocation of an Assembly, and, although no one apprehend-
ed so high-handed a step from Governor Martin, yet he
might by a prorogation or dissolution have in this case
9
98 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
arrested immediate action. On the 8th, however, the
committee appointed to consider the documents laid be-
fore the House submitted a report, giving a full and hearty
response to the patriotic resolutions before them, pledging
their united efforts and most strenuous endeavours to
preserve the just rights and liberties of the American
Colonies which appeared of late to have been so systemat-
ically invaded."
John Harvey, Edward Vail,
Robert Howe, John Ashe,
Cornelius Harnett, Joseph Hewes,
William Hooper, Samuel Johnston,
Richard Caswell,
were appointed a committee of correspondence; and to
those who are at all acquainted with the history of the
State, 1 need not say that the cause of American liberty
was entrusted to able and patriotic hands. This committee
was instructed •' to obtain the earliest and most authentic
intelligence of all such acts and resolutions of the British
Parliament, or the proceedings of the administration, as
might relate to or affect the British Colonies in America,
and to keep up and maintain a correspondence and com-
munication with our sister Colonies respecting these im-
portant considerations, and the result of such of their pro-
ceedings from time to time to lay before this House."
They were further instructed immediately to inform them-
selves, particularly, of the principles and authority on which
was constituted a court of enquiry said to have been lately
held in Rhode Island, with powers to transmit persons
accused of offences committed in America to places be-
yond the seas to be tried. This latter circumstance, which
they were so especially instructed to investigate, deserves
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 99
lo be more particularly mentioned. In the month of June,
1772, the sloop of war Gaspee, which had for some time
cruised in and about the waters of Rhode Island, was
attacked and destroyed by the people of that Province,
headed by John Brown. Commissioners had been ap-
pointed by the Crown, vested with powers to transmit such
persons as might be accused of an agency in this battle, to
be tried before the authorities of the mother country. It
was the principles of this commission, which the committee
were so especially charged to investigate, and which had
produced much alarm, not only in North Carolina, but in
all the sister Colonies.
These instructions, however, were somewhat of a party
movement in the political affairs of the Province. Mar-
tin Howard, the Chief Justice and one of the Councillors,
was appointed to his office in North Carolina, because he
could not hold one which he had filled in Rhode Island. On
the 27th of August, 1 765, during the excitement which pre-
vailed throughout the country on the Stamp Act, the house
of this notable man was destroyed, and his person much
abused by die patriotic inhabitants of Newport, in which
place he had been, as in North Carolina, long remarka-
ble for his corrupt and wicked designs. He fled from the
storms of Rhode Island, and sought " peace and quiet "
in the arms of the Ministry, and, on the suicide of the la-
mented Chief Justice Berry, was appointed to fill his place
on the Judicial Bench of the Province. His profliga-
cy was, however, brought to a wrong mart; during the
five years he received a salary as Chief Justice from the
hands of the Assembly, his character and sometimes " his
person " (as during the Reguladon) was the subject of unri-
valled abuse. So profound was the hatred of the members
]Q0 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
of the popular House towards this eminent vagrant, that in
framing the instructions, they thus censured a board of com-
missioners, which Howard was known to have approved,
and indeed to have recommended in some instances in
North Carolina.
Amidst the general contention for the honor of having
struck the first blow against British tyranny, the modest
pretensions of the State of Rhode Island have been over-
looked, and the destruction of the armed sloop forgotten,
amidst the clang of the arms of Lexington, and the more
clamorous war of words, which raged in Virginia. The
deed itself sliould not be forgotten, nor should the n^me of
John Brown, the leader of the people on that occasion, be
passed over in silence, by the historians of the Revolution.
The great events of the history of Rhode Island, like those
of the history of North Carolina, have been buried by the
ignorance of ^'the historians of the adjacent States."
Notwithstanding the dispute between the House and
the Governor, which I have detailed, the Council and that
body, at a later period of the session, exchanged messages
of great length and no little ability. In the course of the
argument, the Council arraigned the House for supporting^
with so much zeal, a mode of proceeding by attachment,
unknown both to the common and statute law of the mother
country, forgetting that, at a previous session, they had sug-
gested a mode of proceeding by attachment according to
the laws and usages of England. The House replied to
this argument in a message of great length, dated the 20th
of Decen)ber, in the following language.
" We observe with surprise, that a doctrine maintained by a for-
mer House of Assembly is now adopted by you, and that you dis-
close it as your opinion, that attachments are not known to the
common or statute law of England. What then did government
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 101
tender to this people in lieu of their former mode, when it proffer-
ed to the last Assembly, a mode of attachment agreeable to the
laws of England. This House, upon all occasions, will avow
the necessity of attachments in the manner as lately enjoyed, in
point of expedience as well as of right."
The opposition to the government exhibited itself in the
popular House by a unanimous vote, that the acts of 1748
and 1754, laying a poll tax and a duty on liquors, ought to
be discontinued, and a committee with Robert Howe at the
head was appointed to bring in a bill to that effect. On oc-
casions like this, the assent of the Governor being indispen-
sable to the repeal of the law, his will became important,
and respectable even in the eyes of John Harvey. But on
other occasions, and such a one I am now about to detail,
the sanction of the House was indispensable to sustain the
acts of His Excellency. While on his tour of observation
in 1772, the elegant civilities of the good people of Tar-
borough, so pleasing to the vanity of his mind, induced
him to grant a charter to that town, vesting its inhabitants
with the privilege of sending a member to the Assembly.
The House refused to admit Henry Ervvin (the member
who appeared according to the election held under a writ
from the clerk of the Crown), and asserted that the char-
ter was void in that particular, as being against a statute of
the Province. These numerous causes combining to harass
the peace and prosperity of the Governor's administration,
he, on the 21st, suddenly prorogued the Assembly to the 1st
of March. As soon as the House received his message
requiring their presence at the palace, apprehending either
a dissolution or a prorogation, they appointed a committee,
of which John Harvey was the head, to prepare an ad-
dress to the King, beseeching him to withdraw his Royal
instructions to the Governor, so far as attachments were
9*
10^ THE ADMINISTRATION OF
concerned, and it was unanimously resolved to address
Governor Try on, and implore,
" That he would be pleased to convey the same [the address to the
King] to our most gracious Sovereign, support our earnest solicita-
tions with his interest and influence, and that he would accept of
this important trust as a testimony of the great affection this colo-
ny bore hirn, and the entire confidence they reposed in him."
Thus low had Governor Martin sunk in the estimation of
the public. His predecessor and wonted rival, although the
Governor of a distant Province, was solicited to aid and
support the fallen fortunes of the people over whom he had
presided for nearly two years. If he envied Tryon, as say
many of his contemporaries, the proceedings of the House
were mortifying indeed, and the palace had lost its splen-
dor and its glory, when its inmate had become the mere
shadow or puppet of a government.
The resolutions of Virginia suggesting the appointment
of committees of correspondence, were adopted on the 12th
of March, 1773, and the project was essentially an improve-
ment on the internal committees of Massachusetts. In the
95th page of the first volume of the Writings of Mr. Jeffer-
son, the respective claims of Virginia and Massachusetts to
the honor of proposing these national committees, are dis-
cussed in a letter to Mr. Samuel Adams Wells, and the dis-
pute is compromised by the admission of Mr. Jefferson, that
Massachusetts preceded Virginia in the institution of her in-
ternal committees, which were appointed by the people of
each town of the Province, but that Virginia was foremost
in the suggestion of the institution of provincial committees.
This claim may be just, but the pen of Mr Jefferson has
exaggerated its importance.
1 have no claims to advance on the part of North Caro-
lina to the honor in dispute, and have perhaps no business
GOVERNOR MARTIN. IQg
in discussing the differences of other states in this volume;
but I cannot refrain from a kw remarks on the claims of
Virginia to originality in her scheme of a continental cor-
respondence. The Congress of Albany which assembled in
June, 1754, was undoubtedly the original idea of a continen-
tal union, and may be fairly considered the remote cause
of our present union. If the private character of many of
its members may be considered as a test of its political
creed, it is fortunate, that its deliberations were attended
with no permanent results. Dr. Franklin adorned that
body, but Martin Howard and Thomas Hutchinson, the
most inveterate enemies of American freedom, were its
principal leaders. The Congress which assembled in New
York in 1765, to discuss the Stamp Act, was essentially
the child of Massachusetts, and its conception a much bold-
er and more perilous stroke in the cause of the Revolution,
than the appointment of a committee of conespondence.
It sprang from the heart of the Whig party, and, adorned
as it was by the patriotism and talent of the Provinces
represented, it was unfortunate that its deliberations were
not continued by annual sessions. In the year i76S, during
the month of November, while the Assembly of North Caro-
lina was in session, the Speaker laid before the House a
communication from the House of Representatives of Mas-
sachusetts, of date tlie 11th of February preceding, on the
subject of several acts of Parliament, imposing duties and
taxes on the Colonies. This communication is remarkable
for the temperate and modest manner, in which the en-
croachments of Parliament are recited and dismssed, and
forms a singular contrast with a similar state-paper, which
was received by the same officer on the 2nd of November,
1769, from tlie House of Burgesses of Virginia, of date the
9th of the preceding month of May.
104 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
The Speaker of the Assembly of North Carolina was
undoubtedly indebted to the House of Representatives of
Massachusetts, for the communication from Virginia, al-
though the document itself would not support such an in-
ference. In this case at least, Virginia was the imitator
of Massachusetts, and yet her message to North Carolina,
which was received one year after that of Massachusetts,
made no allusion to it as its authority. The paper Irom
Massachusetts modestly disclaims any " ambition of taking
the lead, or of dictating to the other assemblies;" the
one from Virginia " hoped that they had expressed them-
selves on the occasion with a firmness that became free-
men ; and that ihey had made known their proceedings
on this subject with a view that the representatives of
the people of North Carolina, being acquainted with
them, might go hand in hand in opposition to measures,
which had an immediate tendency to enslave them."
We had received that intelligence twelve months before.
The transition from such legislation to the institution of
Provincial committees of correspondence, seems to be
but a natural result; and, when it is remembered that
every Assembly appointed committees to correspond with
their agents in London, the proposition loses all claims to
originality or even to novelty. The Speaker of the As-
sembly of North Carolina transmitted to many Provincial
Assemblies messages on these subjects, assuring them of
the hearty cooperation of the people of the Province.
(1774.) In detailing the events of the year 1774, I shall
resume the discussion of the Attachment controversy, which
now agitated for the last time the Provincial Asseirjbly of
North Carolina. The legislative body, which had been
prorogued to the 1st of March, organized on the 2nd of
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 105
that month, and commenced the controversy in their an-
swer to the official speech of the Governor. I must applaud
the prudence and liberality which distinguished the speech of
His Excellency, He lamented the disastrous slate of the
colony, and the utter impossibility of his reconciling the at-
tachment clause with the Royal instructions. He hoped that
the members had consulted their constituents, during the
recess, and explained to them the repugnant nature of his
instructions. Urging the abandonment of the " attach-
ment process " upon such grounds, he concluded his speech
with a solemn assurance of his readiness to cooperate with
the Assembly, in any legal effort to relieve the people from
impending anarchy and revolution. Messrs. Hooper,
Samuel Johnston, Caswell, Howe of Brunswick, Harnett,
Edwards of New Berne, Allen, Jones, Hewes, and Ashe,
were the committee to prepare the answer of the House ;
and on the 5th of March, Mr. Harnett reported an ad-
dress founded on instructions from a committee of the
whole House. I now quote the language of the ad-
dress.
" We came to the last session of this Assembly, fully possessed of
the sentiments of our constituents ; we have, however, appealed to
them again, consulted them, stated to them candidly the point for
which we contended ; we have also informed them, how far his Ma-
jesty is disposed to indulge our wishes. These facts we have re-
presented to them fairly, disdaining any equivocation or reserve
that might leave them ignorant of the conduct we had pursued, or
the real motives that influenced us. And we have the heartfelt
satisfaction to inform your Excellency, that they have expressed
their warmest approbation of our past proceedings, and have given
us positive instructions to persist in our endeavours to obtain the
process of Foreign Attachment upon the most liberal and ample foot-
ing."
In this decided language did the House reject the con-
ciliatory speech of Governor Martin. In his speech at the
106 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
period of the prorogation of the Assembly, he had exhorted
thein to return to their constituents, and consult with them on
the state of the Province; and thus the House reported the
result of their consultations. On the presentment of the ad-
dress by the Speaker, the Governor delivered a long speech
in reply, in which he seemed to feel sensitively the trium-
phant tone of the House.
" You have told me with, perhaps, just exultation," (he commenced,)
** that your constituents have approved your past conduct, and in-
structed you to persist in your endeavours to obtain the process of
foreign attachment ; but if that means, Gentlemen, that the present
distressed state of this c )lony is to be continued, because 1 have it
not in my power to comply exactly with your wishes relative to a
certain mode of proceeding against absconding debtors, that, as far
as I have been able to learn, has been in some very material points
peculiar to this Province, and is at this day held by many to have
been unguarded and too open and applicable to fraudulent and op-
pressive purposes, I can no more enter into the policy of such a
plan of conduct, that is in my opinion without example, than I can
help dreading the people will soon feel they make infinitely too
dear a sacrifice in relinquishing all legal security of their most
valuable rights and privileges." (9th March.)
Bills to establish Superior and Inferior Courts of law
were framed by the Committee appointed for that purpose,
and readily passed their regular readings in that body.
When the Superior Court bill, however, which contained a
full acknowledgment of the attachment process, came to
its third reading before the Council, that body proposed
*' as a temporary relief to the Province," that the process of
attachment, and the repeal of the Fee bill of 1748, should
be presented in bills distinct from those establishing courts
of law. The House refused, by large majorities, on both
the items of the amendment of the Council, to assume such
a principle ; and now the fact was notorious, that, without
the process of attachment, no bill to establish courts of law
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 107
could pass. Each party now perceived the vanity of all
hopes of a reconciliation on tliis disputed point ; and, as the
Council [lad heretofore acted on the Royal instructions with
a view of shielding the Governor, we perceive that body,
on the 14th of March, abandoning that ground, and leav-
ing His Excellency to support as well as to obey the or-
ders of his sovereign. On that day, the Council, in a mild
and dignified message, recommended the Superior Court
bill, as a fit subject for reconsideration, and expressed a
sincere hope, that something might be done to save the
existence of the law. In accep.ting this friendly recom-
mendation, the House proposed an immaterial alteration
in the attachment clause of the original bill, requiring
" Due proof upon oath, before the attachment should issue, that
the debtor had absconded with an intention of avoiding the pay-
ment of the claims, so far as his intentions may be judged from
the following circumstances, which shall be considered the due
proofs hereby required."
These circumstances were,
" That the defendant resided out of the Province or never was
in it, and that he fails or neglects to discharge his debts, contracts,
or agreements, or when he has removed himself out of his county
privately, or absconds, or conceals himself from the ordinary process
of law, as the plaintiff suspects, to avoid the payment of the debt."
The process of attachment would seem to be sufficient-
ly guarded by the rigor of this clause ; and yet, so cautious
and perhaps overbearing was the House in this dispute,
that the following sections of the proposed bill were adopt-
ed by that body.
" And also in any other circumstances that may occur, and can be
deemed, by the magistrate granting the attachment, the due proof
hereby required. Provided, also, that no attachment shall be grant-
ed, except when the cause of action (by the most liberal construc-
tion in favor of the plaintiff, inhabitant of the Province) can be
108 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
construed to arise within the colony ; and, before the defendant shall
be suffered to plead, he or his attorney shall give bail to a new suit
or action, if the plaintitf judges it necessary." (Tuesday, 15th
March.)
The House, by these amendments yielded nothing save
the explanations of the latter clause, which were too in-
definite in their phraseology to admit a construction more
favorable to foreign creditors. The Council had endeav-
oured to strike out a clause limiting the original jurisdic-
tion of the Superior Court, which the House declared
a valuable and indispensable limitation, and positively re-
fused to concur in such an amendment.
With all its faults, however, the Council passed the bill,
and, on the 17th of March, it was finally passed by both
Houses of the Assembly. On the 19th of March, the
popular House, before waiting on His Excellency to pre-
sent the Superior Court bill, — " Resolved, that the
House and the Council had pursued every measure in
their power to relieve the Colony from the distressed situa-
tion to which it had been reduced for want of Court laws."
The Governor, however, rejected the bill, and, com-
plaining of the unhappy predicament in which he was placed,
urged the Royal instructions as his only justification. At
the distance of more than half a century, and with an
abundance of abhorrence for the character of Josiah Mar-
tin,! can commiserate the situation of the man, as well as
lament the distresses of the people over whom he pre-
sided. For more than a year they had been without
even the semblance of a judicial tribunal to check the
growing progress of crime, or to sustain the obligation of
private contracts. The violence of this Attachment con-
troversy had not only prostrated the courts, but vexed the
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 109
public mind with the degrading idea that the Ministry
sought to insult the Province, by taking from it a
right enjoyed by her sister colonies. Disobedience
to his instructions, would have been sufficient cause
of displeasure to the King or Ministry, and would
have effected the removal of Martin. In those days, when
loyalty tt) the King was a virtue, his conduct would
have found a ready excuse in the positive language of the
Royal instructions, which would have been reverenced
as the supreme law of the land. It is due to Martin to
say, that the instructions were repugnant to his own opinion,
and that his sense of duty to his sovereign was stronger
than his love of the people.
The bill to establish Inferior Courts of Pleas, and Quar-
ter Sessions, after many unavailing messages between the
Council and the House, was, together with the one to estab-
lish courts of Oyer and Terminer, enacted by the assent of
the Governor. On the first of these two measures, the
attachment question was agitated, and, with its enactment,
expired.
In giving his assent to these bills, the Governor deliver-
ed a long speech, in which he bewailed the impossibility
of erecting a higher tribunal than the Inferior Court ; and
he embraced the opportunity, " as he spake to the country
through the popular House," to explain the reasons of his
uniform conduct on the Superior Court bill. I do not pre-
tend to understand the secret motives of Governor Martin,
but I may venture to suggest a few circumstances which
may explain the mildness of his official speeches, during
this and the preceding session. I have observed him, on
two occasions, employing in his service two of the principal
leaders of the opposition, and have suggested the motive of
10
110 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
thus conferring his rewards, to have been a desire to gain
their influence and friendship. The amiable tone of his
speeches may have been the result of fear or of policy.
He may have vainly hoped to distract the ranks of
the Whigs by conciliation, and, like Tryon, by a system of
courtesies and private civilities within the recesses of the pa-
lace, to have won the affections of a majority of the mem-
bers. The progress of this history will, however, exhibit
the futility of his designs, and the lapse of a few months,
the overthrow of his government.
The Assembly was, on the 25th of March, prorogued to
the 25th of May, and in a few days afterwards wa^ dissolved
by proclamation. The dissolution may be ascribed to the
angry feelings excited in the mind of the Governor by sev-
eral acts of the popular House a few days before its pro-
rogation. The House appointed a committee to address
the Throne, praying that the instructions to the Governor
might be withdrawn, and appointed Alexander Ehnsly and
Thomas Barker agents to attend to the execution of their
resolves. The appointment of these two gentlemen as
agents for the House, in so important a crisis, appears to
have been a censure on the integrity of a Mr. Henry Eus-
tace McCulloh, who had for some years filled the sta-
tion of agent for the Province. He attributed the origin of
the instructions to Lords Hillsboro' and Hertfort, both
members of the Privy Council, and friends of the Dobbs
family, the founder of which, Arthur Dobbs, had succeeded
Governor Gabriel Johnston as Governor of North Car-
olina. An attachment was depending in our courts
during the administration of Tryon against the Dobbs
estate ; and by the influence of the two noble friends of
that family the instructions were framed to meet that
GOVERNOR MARTIN. HI
particular case. This is the explanation of Mr. McCul-
loh, as will be seen by a letter of Alexander Elmsly,
which I shall presently introduce. There is not much de-
pendence to be placed in the statements of Mr. McCulloh,
as his integrity on this as well as on other occasions
was questioned. He submitted to the degradation of a
bribe while a member of the Council, and received a thou-
sand acres of land for his vote in favor of the Tuscarora
grant of lands to William Williams and Thomas Pugh and
Robert Jones. The real motive of Governor Martin in
dissolving the Assembly, however, is better displayed in the
Proclauiation whicli he issued for that purpose, of date the
30th of March. The resolution of the House, declaring
the repeal of the acts of 1748 and 1754, is alleged in the
Council Journal as the real cause ; and, as this is the last
tin)e those acts were before the Assembly, I shall extract
the Proclamation, as well to illustrate the excited feelings
of the Governor, as to conclude the subject.
" By His Excellency Jo, Martin, &c., &c.
" A PROCLAMATION.
" Whereas the Assembly of this Province having, by their
resolves of the 24th of this instant March, assumed to
themselves a power unconstitutional, repugnant to the
laws, and derogatory to the honor and good faith of
the Province, by attempting to abrogate an act of the
General Assembly upon which the public credit essentially
depends, it becomes necessary for His Majesty's service to
dissolve the said Assembly of this Province. I do therefore,
with the advice and consent of His Majesty's Council, and
by virtue of the powers and authorities in me vested by His
112 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
Majesty, dissolve ihe said Assembly, and it is hereby dis-
solved accordingly.
" Given under my hand, &:c.
" Jo. Martin.
" Dated 30th of March, 1774.
" God save the King."
In concluding this chapter, and with it the discussion of
the court law and attachment controversy, I submit the
following letter from Alexander Elmsly, which will be
found to be an admirable commentary on the iiistory of
that most important and harassing dispute.
" London, 17th May, 1774.
" Dear Sir,
" I have your several favors covering your order on Bridgen &-
Waller, and ordering a suit of law for a friend of Mrs. Johnston's.
With respect to the first, all the purpose it has answered is, a new
order to Mrs. Strudwick to pay you that money. This manoeuvre
you can easily see through ; it is not so easily reconciled, however,
to the principles which these gentlemen make profession of, and fot
want of which your neighbour C. Pollock has in my hearing been
so often the subject of their abuse. The fact is, they acknowledge
the receipt of the money, and are ready to account for it; but Strud-
wick is largely in their debt, and they think this a good opportunity
to reduce the amount. If this expedient miscarries, you must write
to them to pay peremptorily, and I doubt not the money will be fofth-
coming, as the Scots say. By this ship the lace is sent to Mrs.
Aitcheson's care, who will contrive it to you instead of £7 75.;
however, Mr. Palmer, Mrs Do., and my Rib, after consultation, are
of opinion unanimously that Miss Cathcart has a right to wear a suit
of lace worth at least one half a guinea a yard, and so the whole to-
gether, i. e. the lace and something else, the name of which I have
forgot, costs you £10 Is. ; £9 to Bridgen & Waller, lace merchants,
for the materials, and £1 Is. to a milliner for putting them together.
" 1 think your Assembly to blame and your Governor also, and am
sure r m not mistaken ; these are my reasons ; Governor Dobbs in his
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 1X3
last will gave a legacy of £2000 to his wife, and, infer alios, appointed
his sons, Conway and Richard, executors. Conway I verily believe
received moneys belonging to the testator, both here and in Ireland.
Richard I sincerely believe never received a shilling here, there, or
anywhere else ; but having, as well as the other, effects in your Prov-
ince, an attachment was issued against them at the suit of Mr. Nash,
and, before defence could be made, the plaintiffs had judgment j the
defendant soon after, however, procured an injunction, which your
Court of Chancery thought proper to make perpetual. From this
decree Mr. Nash appealed, and last Thursday the decree was
reversed by the Privy Council, because of your attachment law,
which they said they could not get over, although Sir Jonathan
Welmot, late Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, thought it so hard
a case upon young Dobbs, that he gave it as his opinion, no act of
Assembly ought to have the force of a law till revised and ratified in
England.
" My next reason is within your own recollection. P. Larkin of
London became bankrupt, having effects in North Carolina ; Alder-
man Rossiter and a Mr. Pritchard of this place attached, as did a
Captain Richardson of your Province, but who was of Jamaica at
the time of bankruptcy, although an inhabitant of England when
the debt was contracted ; the attachments of the two Englishmen
were defeated, the American had his money, and this expressly
agreeable to the determinations of the judges here.
" My other reason affects myself When Bogle & Scot stopt pay-
ment, their creditors were called together to fix upon a plan for liqui-
dating their affairs. The single question was, whether the commission
of bankrupt should be sued out against them, or whether trustees
should be named, to take the management of their affairs into their
hands. Every creditor present, except myself, was for appointing
trustees, because by that means the expense of a commission would
be avoided in the first place, the disgrace of it in the next ; and in
the third place, which was of more importance, many of their credi-
tors were possessed with bills and bonds with security, and were
also creditors on open account, and, in case of a commission taking
place, would have a right to receive of the security, and afterwards
divide against the bankrupt's estate, as if nothing had been received
on the bonds and bills, till they should have received their whole
debt ; by which means their simple contract debts without security
would be in fact covered by the security on the specialty debts. This
reason had determined all the creditors present not to sue out a
10*
114 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
commission of bankrupt ; but six weeks having elapsed from the
time of their stopping payment, and it appearing that the greatest
part of their effects were abroad in America, and consequently sub--
ject to your attachment laws, which would take place of an assign-
ment to trustees, and which we had no other way of avoiding but
by taking out a commission, we were obliged to come to a calcula-
tion, whether the open account creditors world lose more by letting
such as were creditors both by bonds with security, and open ac-
count also, have their full debts paid, or by running the risk of such
creditors as were not present having, during the six weeks, ordered
attachments in America; and upon finding that all the Scotch and
many considerable English creditors had not attended the meeting,
although advertised, and suspecting the reason of it, upon my pro-
posal it was unanimously agreed to make bankrupts of Bogle &. Scot,
although by that means sundry creditors are certain of having their
full dividend, who otherwise would not have received above 17 or
18s. in the pound ; but as their debts were not near so considerable
as those of the absent creditors, whom we supposed absent because
they had taken steps to secure their debts otherwise, of two evils we
chose the least.
" With respect to attachments in England, I am able perfectly to
inform you of the nature of them, having, since my arrival in Lon-
don, defended no less than seven of them, not as an attorney, but as
the agent of a gentleman in Scotland, pro hac vice. 1st. It is only
In the city (not one half) of London, in Bristol, and I believe York,
or some other old town, that attachments lie by custom. I know not
the custom of the two last places ; but in London the practice is, that
no attachment takes place except where the cause of action arises
within the city ; that if affidavit of the debt is not made by the plain-
tiff upon suing out the attachment, it may be set aside on entering
common bail in the office ; and in no case can the garnishee be com-
pelled to answer, unless he voluntarily, to oblige the plaintiff as his
friend, comes into court and discloses the amount of the effects in
his hands ; but if the plaintiff can prove that, at the time of laying
the attachment, the garnishee was either indebted to the defendant
or had effects of his in his possession, he is admitted to do it, and
such proof is as good as the garnishee's confession.
"These are the principles of the attachments in London, you
may depend on it, and it was upon them that the last instruction to
your Governor was founded ; of this I am certain, because old Mr.
McCulloh in the absence of his son called upon me as soon as he
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 115 .
received his despatches respecting this matter, and reqiiested my
advice on the subject. 1 readily took a slip of paper and drew up a
sketch of an instruction which he showed to Mr. Jackson, counsel to
the Board of Trade, and which he afterwards told was perfectly ap-
proved of; and we never doubted that it would be sent out to the
Governor, in statu quo, nor knew I any thing to the contrary, till I
read your Journals, and found that Jackson, as I suppose, of his own
head, had added that the plaintiff should swear that the defendant's
absconding was in order to avoid payment of his debt. This he now
confesses and justifies upon the rule of the Court of Chancery in
England, which has adopted that form in certain proceedings against
absentees; but he says, as I do, that it was sufficient for your Gov-
ernor to have attended to the substance of his instruction, in which
case he ought to have dispensed with these words, for which the
Board would have been obliged to him.
As to the Assembly, I ihink them wrong in contending for an at-
tachment law in the same extent as before. What we want here is
principally that we and you should be on a footing, that if one of our
merchants fails, his English and American creditors should receive
the same dividend; whereas, as things stood under the late law, the
American creditor, who could find effects in that country, had his
whole debt, when the English creditor often got little or nothing.
We also want that even an European creditor should not have power
to attach in America, because by this means, unless the debtor is
made bankrupt, it often happens that the creditors who are mer-
chants, and have correspondents abroad, have greatly the advantage
of other people ; and it was to avoid this inconvenience that the ex-
pedient of obliging the plaintiff to swear that the cause of action
arose in the province was thought of.
" H. McCulloh tells me that there is a new instruction gone out
or made out. From what he mentions, it differs only from the last in
admitting an attachment where the cause of action may happen to
arise in Virginia or South Carolina, and striking out the clause that
obliged the plaintiff to swear that the defendant had absconded in
order to avoid payment of his debt. If this is the case, I think it a
foolish affair, and that it may be of some more service to Virginia,
than before, and that is all the difference ; for as to the other cir-
cumstance it is nothing, had your Governor rightly understood
the matter, being mere form only, and which he surely ought to
have dispensed with. .
115 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
" Before I finish the business, give me leave to mention to yoa,
that it was my idea when I came to Carolina, tiiat there was nothing
in your laws to warrant an attachment against the estate of a person
who had not some time or other been resident amongst you ; an
original attachment certainly could not lie against him, because he
neither conceals, absconds, nor absents himself, which the form of
your attachment makes a sine qud non. An attachment on mesne
process, I think, ought not to affect such a debtor, because your sher-
iffs are on all returns to set forth the truth of the case, which is here
that the defendant is no inhabitant, in which case no attachment can
issue. What inclined me to think in this manner was the practice in
Virginia, where the laws were the same with yours in respect to
attachments, but where there is a particular act of Assembly respect-
ing persons never resident in the colony, which, if I have not forgot,
puts all creditors on a footing. This law you have not, nor any
thing like it, the construction you put on the court acts supplying
the place of it. I am told, your agent wrote out, that your Gov-
ernor would receive an authority to consent to an enlargement to
the jurisdiction of the county courts. I know not what foundation
he had for writing so, because it was easy to see at the office what
instruction had gone out ; and I am well assured, that, had it not been
for your being in possession of a larger jurisdiction for some years
past, the county courts would have been put on the same footing
as in England. I believe the truth is, no inquiry was ever made by
the young gentleman after his return to England, trusting to the
exertions of his father in his absence, who had labored this point
with Mr. Jackson, and not having in express terms a denial, took it,
I believe, for granted, that he would recommend the matter to the
Board, and advised his son accordingly. This inclined him to hazard
the flattering letter wrote to the committee, and which I am told was
one reason, amongst others, for suffering his act of Assembly to ex-
pire. Betwixt you and me, the old man is the best agent of the two.
As this office is now vacant, and it is impossible that your Province
in its infant, unsettled state can be without an agent in England,
I would have you seriously think of your old friend here. The grand
difficulty will lie with the Council ; but if ways and means could be
fallen upon to interest the Governor, I have no doubt a majority of
that board might be easily secured to vote as he might direct them.
The grand objection that lay in our way formerly is now no more,
(the opposition from the southern men ; ) as the seat of government
is out of the question, it is become indifferent to them whether the
GOVERNOR MARTIN. H7
agents are from the south or the north. If you think this business
practicable, perhaps it may contribute somewhat to the carrying it
into execution should Mr. Barker write to the Chief Justice Cornell,
and some other principal or popular characters, which shall be done
if on reconnoitring the ground you think well of it. American af-
fairs have engrossed all the serious part of the attention of Parliament
this session ; the result of which is, that four acts of Parliament
have passed respecting that part of the world, I had almost said of
the British dominions. By the first the harbour of Boston is shut up
till a compensation is made to their India Company for their tea,
and till the inhabitants discover an inclination to submit to the
revenue laws, after which the King, by and with the advice of the
Privy Council, is empowered to suspend the effect of the act.
" This law we imagine will save the Bostonians the trouble of
entering into new agreements against importing goods, as being out
of their power while the act continues in force. But we are not
certain that it will be followed by the same effect in the other prin-
cipal ports, they being left open, though not less criminal, except in
point of overt acts, than Boston. But I suppose the administration
thought the whole too much to encounter at one time.
" The next act is for taking away the charter of the Massachu-
setts Bay ; hereafter the Council are to be appointed by the King, as
in the southern Provinces, and in certain cases the Governor is to
act without their consent and concurrence. The town meetings,
except for the purpose of elections, are declared unlawful, and some
other new regulations established.
" The third act enables the governors in case of an indictment
preferred against any officer of the Crown, either civil or military,
for any thing by him done in the execution of his office, to suspend
the proceedings against him in America, and to send him home for
trial in England. This law, I am told, the officers of the army in-
sisted on for fear of being prosecuted by the civil power, either as
principals or accessories to the death of any person killed in the
field of battle, in case things should come to that extremity.
" The fourth and last law respects quartering the soldiery. I have
not seen it, but suppose it is calculated to obviate in future the
construction put upon the old one, by the people of Boston, in their
town meetings, viz. that Castle William, situated three miles out of
town, should be taken to be barracks in the town, and of course ex-
cluded the pretensions of the army to quarters in the town, even
thougli the purpose of sending soldiers should be merely on account
X18 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
of the commotions and disturbances in the town. Lord Chatham
has never appeared in liit. phicc in the House of Lords during this
winter. Cambden and Rockingham, assisted by the Uuke of Rich-
mond and some others out of phice, form the present opposition, and
of course voted against these measures. 'I'he Duke of Richmond,
in particular, I am told, spoke against them with great acrimony,
wishing that the Americans might rebel openly ; but they were
always outvoted five to one in the lower House. Lord North is
as absolute as ever Pitt was, and most people think as deservedly;
even Barre voted against the Americans on the Boston Port Bill, and
made a long speech on the occasion ; as did Lord George Sackville
on all of them ; and yet these are two of our staunchest patriots, in
other words, strongest opponents of the ministry. With respect to
the sentiments of the public in general, they are not favorable to the
Americans ; most people think it unreasonable, that they should
be taxed without their consent ; but they think it also dangerous
to allow the sovereign to have more parliaments than one, at
least independent of that one, and think as I always did, and said,
that the king of England, as king, can have no subjects that are not
under the control of the Parliament of Great Britain ; but then, on
the other hand, nineteen in twenty of all the sensible people in the
kingdom think, and think very seriously, that, as the inhabitants of
the colonies are no longer an assemblage of needy vagrants, but are
become a numerous body, respectable for their importance in the
state, and bidding fiair in a little time to equal in point of numbers
those of the mother country, which decline in proportion as they
increase, the ministry ought either to waive all pretensions to
taxing them, or to admit a reasonable number of the Representatives
for the Americans. Were the people on your side of the water to
put matters on this issue, they would find many more friends in
England ; but, as things stand at present, when this is urged for you,
the ready answer is, that you declare you will not be represented,
ad quod non potest responderi.
" Saxby, the Receiver of South Carolina, has resigned, and Irwine,
who gave him some trouble about your ofiice, is appointed in his
room. James Murray, would you think it.? has accepted of Iiwine's
place in the customs of Boston ; it is that of an inspector, worth very
little to a young man, and still less to an old one, who has filled the
most respectable place in a Province. I fancy the old man is in
necessity, else he would not have encountered so much drudgery at
his time of dav. I saw Col. Lawrence lately ; he talks of returning
GOVERNOR MARTIN. Hg
soon, but says he shall first pay me two or three hundred pounds for
you.
" Having now, my dear friend, pretty fully gratified your curi-
osity respecting every thing that may either concern yourself or
the public, you will give me leave to add a few lines concerning
myself.
" When I left my power of attachment with you, I told you that
Andrew Millar and I had agreed, that all money you or he might
receive of mine should lie in his hands for three years, he paying me
interest at the rate of five per cent, for two years and a half only.
I had a letter from him lately, in which he appears perfectly to recol-
lect thisj but seems to have forgot that the money was to be remitted
at the Virginia exchange, making an allowance of twenty-tive per
cent, to bring the product into Virginia money ; he charges thirty-
three and a half. When you see him I shall be obliged to you to
put him in mind of this matter. I do not want the money, but the
sooner his mistake is pointed out to him, the more probable it is that
he will recollect himself and correct it; perhaps if it is hinted to
him, that as he was to have the money six months for nothing, and
was afterwards to pay but five per cent, instead of six, it is to be
supposed some equivalent or other must have been stipulated in
return, he may call to mind our agreement; but I would not have
any bickering about the business.
" The other thing respecting myself is only a repetition of part
of one of my late letters. Mr. McCulloh has often been talking to
me of buying the 1000 acres of land he got for his vote in Coun-
cil from Pugh &- Williams. I have never listened to him ; but if
I thought it good land, and that 2000 or 3000 acres more could be
had contiguous to it at an easy rate, I believe I should be tempted to
treat with him. Will you then inform yourself what sort of land
his is, and at what price the above addition may be made to it, and
advise me accordingly. I have now three boys to provide for; one
of them shall take one of your girls off your hands, if she cannot
dispose of herself better. 1 am with compliments, for self and com-
pany, to all your family,
"Dear sir, your affectionate,
"ALEXANDER ELMSLY.
" The King of France died last week of the small-pox, aged 64."
CHAPTER III.
*rHE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR MARTIN.
(continued.)
The situation of the Province, after the dissolution of
the Assembly, was but little superior to an acknowledged
state of anarchy. It was a vain attempt to supply the
place of the Superior Court by tlie establishment of courts
of Oyer and Terminer. Witliout those tribunals the ser-
vices of Chief Justice Howard were unemployed, and this
desirable result was achieved by the dexterity of Maurice
Moore.* While the courts of Oyer and Terniiner and
General Gaol Delivery were holding in Wilmington, he
excepted to the commissions of the judges upon reasons
which he sustained. He first alleged, that the province
law which created the court, gave to the chief justice the
power of oyer and terminer and general goal delivery, but
that the clause which empowered the associates to act in his
absence gave them only the powers of judges of oyer and
terminer, and therefore that the commissions exceeded
the Governor's powers. His second exception was, that
the commission was to try for the " district of Wilming-
ton,^^ when no such district had been made by the law.
Mr. Moore succeeded in suppressing the court, by the
voice of the associates who took an advisari and adjourned
* A letter from William Hooper to Judge Iredell, August 5, 1774.
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 121
This was during the month of June, 1774, after which
period I find no notices of the courts of Oyer and
Terminer, or of the judicial dignity of Howard. Such
was the untimely, and yet merited fate, of the only hope of
the Royal judges of North Carolina. 1 say the merited
fate, hecause the chief justice was notoriously destitute,
not only of the common virtues of humanity, but of all
sympathy whatever with the community in which he lived.
He openly confessed himself inimical to the people, and
his letters show a degree of malignity,* unworthy of a
judge or of a private citizen.
These distracting questions, which I have discussed so
much in detail, operated to draw into the Whig party, with
singular unanimity, the profession of the law ; a class of
mankind, who are, as a general rule, usually in favor of
" the powers that be." The court-law controversy was the
most prominent cause of dissatisfaction to the people at
large, and transcended in its immediate appeal to their
personal comforts and rights, the abstract question of Brit-
ish allegiance. To the people of Boston the latter subject
was the more interesting, as they suffered from the aggres-
sions of the mother country ; but to the people of North
Carolina, whose fellow-citizens were never butchered, and
whose ports were never closed by a military force, these
important usurpations were thrown into the shade by the
greater danger of domestic trouble. The opposition to
the ministry in North Carolina was embittered, not by
personal sufferings, but by a deep sympathy with the peo-
ple of Massachusetts, who were complimented in all the
public meetings throughout the Province, and who were
* A letter of his to Judge Iredell, of date May 20, 1773, is before me.
11
122 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
assured of their readiness to aid them, in any general
scheme of protection or resistance.
I have said, tliat one happy effect of the destruction of
the courts, was the adoption of the Whig cause by the pro-
fessors of the law. I must illustrate this by an appeal to
circumstances and individuals. Isaac Edwards, a lawyer
of New Berne, and who had formerly been private secre-
tary to Governor Tryon, in a letter to Judge Williams of
Granville, dated on the 20th of July, 1773, uses the fol-
lowing Whig language.
" What are you all doing in these times ? I suppose you, who have
money enough, are amusing yourself by the improvements of your
plantations, to which you have now leisure to attend ; but what do
other people, whose barns are less plenteously stored and coffers not.
so sufficiently replenished, do ? If I may judge of them by myself,
the prospect before them is not the most flattering, nor is the plenti-
ful harvest, which must at some time come, I fear so near at hand
as we wish it. The mother country has not of late discovered any
great desire to promote the wish of her children, much less to miti-
gate or relax the mandates of her sovereign and supreme power ; and,
if I judge aright, her children in this our dear country have too sa-
cred a regard to what they esteem their undoubted birthright, tamely
to surrender it to the command of any tribunal under heaven. "What
is to become of us requires deeper penetration than mine to discover ;
but I am apprehensive it will be some time before matters are accom-
modated to our wishes ; terms of peace on the one hand being expect-
ed, if not exacted, or perhaps I may reverse it, and say exacted if not
expected, which on constitutional principles cannot, I apprehend, be
relinquished. As yet nothing is known certainly about it. We have
nothing scarcely stirring among us, every thing is still, and I am
happy to find that in our neighbourhood the distresses of the times
are as little felt as can possibly be expected, in any place under a
suspension of judicial proceedings."
(April, 1774.) My narrative is approaching that inter-
esting period of our history, when the people moved in a
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 123
body towards the organization of the Continental Congress.
In most of the Provinces the people were driven to this
step by the continued and insolent aggressions of the Brit-
ish ministry and parliament ; but in North Carolina a
combination of causes, independent of that general princi-
ple/' operated to produce dissatisfaction towards the au-
thority of the mother country. The elements of that
combination I have exhibited, in the violence of the court-
law controversy, the party bickerings on the repeal of the
acts of 1748 and 1754, and other legislative disputes. In
as short a space as possible, I now propose to examine
the origin and the progress of the first Provincial Congress
of North Carolina. The people had been, for ten years,
protesting and complaining against the unconstitutional
legislation of the mother country, and their protests and
complaints had been couched in the submissive and obed-
ient language of faithful subjects. The age for such
things had passed away ; and now the fire that had been
so long smothered, by the recollection of a common origin
and kindred ties and sympathies, burst forth, and spread
in one unextinguishable flame, over the whole country,
from Maine to Georgia. The war of words was over, and
that of life and death had come.
There were five characters of that day, whose extraor-
dinary services in the cause of the first Provincial Con-
gress deserve to be particularly noticed. John Harvey,
William Hooper, Willie Jones, Samuel Johnston, and
James Iredell, were the principal pioneers in that great
and perilous undertaking. If I may judge from their
letters, they were, as early as the 1st of April, 1774, con-
templating the organization of a Provincial Congress or
Assembly, directly from the people, and independent of
124 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
the authority of the Governor. Tlie proposition to organ-
ize a Continental by the immediate agency of a Provincial
Congress, was first made to our committee of correspond-
ence by the committee of Massachusetts, about the 1st of
June ; and, nearly two months anterior to that date, I find
the following letter from Samuel Johnston to William
Hooper.
« My Dear Sir,
" Colonel Harvey and myself lodged last night with Colo-
nel Buncombe, and as we sat up very late the conversation turned
on continental and provincial affairs. Colonel Harvey said during
the night, that Mr. Biggleston told him, the governor did not intend
to convene another Assembly until he saw some chance of a better
one than the last ; and that he told the secretary, that then the peo-
ple would convene one themselves. He was in a very violent mood,
and declared he was for assembling a convention independent of the
governor, and urged upon us to cooperate with him. He says, he
will lead the way, and will issue handbills under his own name, and
that the committee of correspondence ought to go to work at once.
As for my own part, I do not know what better can be done. With-
out courts to sustain the property and to exercise the talents of the
country, and the people alarmed and dissatisfied, we must do some-
thing to save ourselves. Colonel Harvey said, he had mentioned
the matter only to Willie Jones of Halifax, whom we had met the
day before, and that he thought well of it, and promised to exert
himself in its favor. I beg your friendly counsel and advice on the
subject, and hope you will speak of it to Mr. Harnett and Colonel
Ashe, or any other such men. Colonel Harvey left us this morning,
and I shall follow him in the course of a few days as far as Edenton,
where if there is any thing important stirring, you shall hear from
me again. My best respects to your family, and believe me
" Your obedient servant,
" Samuel Johnstow.
" April 5, 1774."
I have never been able to find any letter from Mr.
Hooper to Mr. Johnston, purporting to be an answer to
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 125
the one above, although I shall in the third part of this
volume introduce one of far superior merit, which he wrote
to James Iredell on the 26th of April, 1774. In this letter
he openly avows the propriety, as well as the probability,
of our independence. I look upon this letter as not infe-
rior to any event in the history of the country ; and, in the
boldness and originality of its views, T say that it is a doc-
ument without a rival at the period of its date. It lakes
precedence of the Mecklenburg Declaration, as that does
of the national declaration of independence. It distinctly
says, *' With you I anticipate the important share which
" the colonies must soon have in regulating the political
" balance. They are striding fast to independence, and
" will ere long build an empire on the ruins of Britain,
" will adopt its constitution purged of its impurities, and,
" from an experience of its defects, will guard against
" those evils which have wasted its vigor and brought it to
" an untimely end."
It will be seen, too, from the above extract, that James
Iredell was not an indifferent spectator of the great strug-
gle, then pending before the people, and that he had even
anticipated Mr. Hooper in the patriotic reflections of this
letter. Though but a mere youth at this period of our
history, I find him one of the most ardent supporters of
the Whig cause, and engaged in an extensive correspond-
ence on the injuries of his country. He used his pen with
great industry, and with still greater ability. I have
many of his papers now before me, and observe, through-
out all of them, the same zeal and devotion to the great
American cause. In his correspondence with Mr. Hoop-
er during the year 1774, the wrongs of the colonies are
discussed at large, and in the letters of neither do I dis-
11*
126 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
cover even the hope of a reconciliation expressed. The
sufferings of the people of Boston are always alluded to
by IMr. Hooper ; and, in one of his letters* to his friend
Jredell, he says, " The people of Cape Fear have sent a
vessel loaded with provisions for the support of Boston.
The subscription in a few days amounted to £800, and
in all other respects they discover a very proper resent-
ment for the injuries done to that people."
These observations and letters will illustrate the state of
the public mind, during the spring and summer of the
year 1774. The people were well prepared for immedi-
ate action, and when the project of a Provincial and Conti-
nental Congress was published abroad, they embraced it
with enthusiasm and zeal. About the 1st of July, handbills
inviting the people to elect delegates to a convention to be
held in New Berne, on the 25th of August, were generally
circulated throughout the Province, and the objects of the
said convention w^ere staled to be, to express the sentiments
of the people " on acts lately passed by the Parliament of
Great Britain, and to appoint delegates to represent the
Province in a Continental Congress." The handbills ad-
vised the people to invest the deputies, whom they might
send to New Berne, " with powers obligatory on the
future conduct of the inhabitants."
By the 1st of August a large majority of the counties
had held elections, and vested the high powers recom-
mended, in their long-tried and faithful leaders. Governor
Martin pretended to doubt the success of the plan, until
he perceived its overwhelming popularity ; and it was not
until the 12th of August that he condescended to take
* August 5, 1774.
GOVERNOR MARTIN. ]27
official cognizance of such proceedings. On that day
his Excellency addressed the honorable members of the
Council as follows :
" Gentlemen of His Majesty's Council,
" I have heard with the greatest concern, and have read in public
newspapers and handbills, of invitations to the people in the seve-
ral counties and towns of this Province, to meet together to express
their sentiments on acts lately passed by the Parliament of Great
Britain ; and to appoint deputies to attend on their behalf, with
powers obligatory on the future conduct of the inhabitants of this
Province, at a meeting that I understand is to be held here on the
25<A instant. I also find, that meetings of the freeholders and in-
habitants have accordingly been already held in some places, at
which resolves have been entered into, derogatory to the dignity of
his Majesty and his Parliament, and tending to excite clamor and
discontent among the King's subjects in this Province."
Under these circumstances, he considered it his indis-
pensable duty to advise with them as to the measures most
proper to be taken to discourage these assemblies, so in-
consistent with the peace and good order of the govern-
ment. To this appeal, the Council replied, that they would
maturely weigh the matters of his speech, until the next
day, when they would deliver their advice. On the next
day, in accordance with the advice of the Council, the
Governor issued a proclamation, in which he condemned
the assemblies and elections of the people, as highly illegal,
and warned all officers of the King, both civil and military,
to do all to the utmost of their pov/er to prevent such illegal
meetings, and more particularly the meeting of certain
Deputies on the 25th instant. This step however was of
no avail. The Council Journal of this year (from which I
am now drawing my matter) states, that on the 25th of
August, the Governor signified to the Council, that that
128
THE ADMINISTRATION OF
was the day appointed for the meeting of certain Deputies
from the several counties and towns of the Province, and
that many of them had actually arrived. He then desired
to know if they could advise any further measures than those
he had taken, and " they were unanimously of opinion, that
no other steps could properly be taken at this conjuncture."
Neither the Proclamation, nor the less official menaces
of Governor Martin, could prevent the assembling of the
deputies. On the 25th of August, 1774, they punctually
met in New Berne, and elected Colonel John Harvey
Moderator, and Andrew Knox Clerk of their body. The
Congress being thus in session, the curiosity of the reader
is aroused to learn the names and characters of those, who
thus led the way, in the first effort to organize a delibera-
tive Assembly independent of the authority of the existing
government. They were the pioneers in our glorious
Revolution, and the organization of this Congress was their
first overt act. I shall introduce them to the reader by a
record of their names, and a (ew observations on the
characters of some of the most distinguished.
PROVINCIAL CONGRESS OF AUGUST, 1774.
Counties.
Anson,
C Samuel Spencer
\ William Thomas
Beaufort,
Roger Ormond
Thomas Respiss
Bladen,
] William Salter
I Walter Sibron j
Bute,
: William Person '
!; Green Hill !
Brunswick,
Robert Howe
Bertie,
John Campbell
Counties.
Craven,
Carteret,
Currituck,
Chowan,
f James Cook,
j Lemuel Hatch,
Joseph Leech
(^Richard Cogdell
^ VVm Thompson
\ Solomon Perkins
C Nathan Joyce
\ Samuel Jarvis
f Samuel Johnston
I Thomas Oldham
-{ Thomas Benbury
I Thomas Jones
(^Thomas Hunter
GOVERNOR MARTIN.
129
Counties.
Cumberland,
Chatham Cou.
Dohhs,
Duplin,
Edgecombe,
Granville,
Guilford,
Hyde,
Hertford,
Halifax,
Johnston,
Mecklenburg,
Martin,
JY. Hanover,
JV. Hampton,
Orange,
Onslow,
F. Campbell
T. Rutherford
ntij, not represented.
( Richard Caswell
J Will. McKennie
] George Miller
(^ Simon Bright
r Thomas Gray
J Thomas Hicks
j James Kenan
(^William Dickson
)ione.
C Thomas Person
I Memucan Hunt
7ione.
^ Rothias Latham
([ Samuel Smith
none.
C Nicholas Long
\ Willie Jones
C Needham Bryan
\ Benj. Williams
Benjamin Patten
E. Smith wick
C John Ashe
\ William Hooper
Allen Jones
Thomas Hart
William Gray
Counties.
f John Harvey
I Benjamin Harvey
Perquimons, <( Thomas Harvey
I Andrew Knox
[j. Whidbee, Jun.
f Joseph Jones
Pasquotank, <{ Edward Everigin
(^Joseph Reading
I John Simpson
( Edward Salter
f William Kenon
■^ Moses Winslow
l^ Samuel Young
none
David Jenkins
Robert Alexander
( Joseph Spurill
( Jeremiah Eraser
7ione
Abner Nash
Isaac Edwards
Joseph Hewes
Francis Clayton
William Brown
John Geddy
Pitt,
Rowan,
Surry,
Tryon,
Tyrrell,
Wake,
JVeio Berne,
Edenton,
Wilmington,
Bath,
Halifax Toicn,
Hillsborough,
Salisbury,
Brunsicick Toion,
Campbelton,
The Moderator, John Harvey, whose name occurs so
often and so honorably in the history of North Carolina,
was a native of the Albermarle Shore, and a citizen of the
county of Perquimons. Endowed by nature with a vigor-
ous mind, and having embraced the most liberal oppor-
tunities for its cultivation, he added the ornaments of
education to those more indispensable and hereditary
qualifications of a polished gentleman, which eminently dis-
tinguished his character. After having for many years
served as a member of the Assembly from Perquimons,
he was, in 1766, elected Speaker of the popular House,
* My notices of the Provincial Congress are from the MSS. in
the State Department of North Carolina.
130 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
a station which he filled, with but one interruption, to the
close of the Royal government. The great influence ex-
ercised by Samuel Swann, who had filled the Speaker's
chair for nearly twenty years, had given that station a
dignity scarcely inferior to that of the executive, and much
superior to that of a councillor. The Speaker of the
popular House, after the days of Mr. Swann, was looked
upon as the leader of the Whig party, and the hereditary de-
fender of the rights of the people. John Ashe, the hero of the
Wilmington sedition, succeeded Swann in 1762, and John
Harvey succeeded him in 1766. Throughout the turbu-
lent period of the years 1767, 1768, and 1769, he pre-
sided over the deliberations of the House, and received
the unanimous thanks of that body at the close of each
session. The powerful influence of Tryon had paralyzed
the Whig party, and made his hereditary office a sinecure ;
and in the Assembly of 1770, Harvey was succeeded by
Richard Caswell, a gentleman more acceptable to Tryon,
as a personal and political friend. In the Assembly of
1773, however, he was again elected Speaker at the
instance of Caswell, and here he found the office one of
dignity and importance. The House, from this period to
the flight of Governor IVIartin (and the consequent disso-
lution of the Royal government), was, strictly speaking, ar-
rayed as a party against the government; and, during the
whole of this time, Mr. Harvey was the acknowledged lead-
er of the opposition. He conducted the Whigs through the
great controversy on the court law, and the attachment
clause, and the various other disputes with the Executive
and Council. I have stated that he was chosen Modera-
tor of the first Independent Provincial Congress, a station
which he filled with great honor to himself, and advantage
to the cause of his country, until his death. He was re-
GOVERNOR MARTIN. J3j
markable for great decision of character and firmness in
his political principles, and demeaned himself towards his
opponents, and more particularly the Governor, with a
haughty reserve, which showed the bitterness of his oppo-
sition. Harvey's Neck, a point of land on Albemarle
Sound, at the mouth of the Perquimons River, was the
seat of this remarkable and illustrious family, which, for
many years before the Revolution, was celebrated for its
dignity, antiquity, and weahh. The changes of half a
century have left nothing but a few venerable and respect-
ed tombs, to attest the magnificent hospitality and grandeur
of the House of Harvey.
Of William Hooper, one of the Deputies from New
Hanover, I propose not now to speak. I shall dedicate
to his character the concluding chapter of my work, and
shall then, too, notice the characters of his colleagues,
John Penn of Granville and Joseph Hewes of Edenton,
who were members of the Provincial as well as the Con-
tinental Congress.
Richard Caswell of Dobbs was one of the leading men
of the Congress, both as an efficient business-man, and as a
strenuous supporter of the principles which they convened
to uphold. The character of none of the patriots of 1776 is
so well known, as that of Caswell. The various servi-
ces of his active life cannot be even recounted in a work
like this. I must content myself with a notice of a few
of the prominent events of his career, and leave the
pleasure of a more copious detail to the industry and zeal
of some future biographer.
I find him in 1765 an acfive opponent of the Stamp
Act, and eagerly disposed to take the field in opposition
to the measures of the government. In a few succeed-
ing years, however, he attached himself to the party of
132 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
Tiyon, and opposed, with all his power the movements of
the Regulators. This singular position, of opposition to
the government in 17G5 and of warm attachment to it in
1768 and 17G9, is not more unaccountable or con-
tradictory, than the movements of the leading politicians
of the day.
After the excitement of the Stamp Act had subsided,
the failure of Tryon to supersede the popular leaders in
the affections of the people, taught him a lesson of prudence.
Finding it impossible to win the peoi)ie, he determined to
win their leaders; and, for this purpose, he condescended
to employ the lucrative offices of his government, as well
as the elegant hospitality of his palace. In the midst of
such civilities as the latter, adorned by the presence of his
lovely and accomplished lady, he fascinated the mind of
the ambitious Caswell, and won him over to his confidence
and support. In 1770, he is observed in the Speaker's
chair of the House, a distinction which he acquired much
to the satisfaction of Tryon, who considered it as an evi-
dence of the strength of his party.
In the battle of Allemance, he was one of the most effi-
cient generals of the Governor's army, and commanded
the right wing of the second line in that famous engage-
ment. When, however, Tryon had ceased to govern the
Colony, and his place was filled by another, Caswell re-
turned to the support of the rights of the people, and in a
few years became one of the leading Whigs of the Province.
He was, during the session of this, the first Provincial
Congress, appointed, in conjunction with Messrs. Hooper,
and Hewes, to represent North Carolina in the Continen-
tal Congress, a situation which he held until the 8th of
September, 1775, when he was chosen one of the
Treasurers of the Province. Still continuing a member
DEFENCE
REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 133
of the Provincial Congress, he was elected its President,
at a period when the present constitution of the State was
adopted ; and, by an ordinance of the same Convention, he
was elected the first Governor of the state of North Caroli-
na. He carried the State through the stormy period of his
administration with signal success, and, after the expiration
of that official service, he was actively engaged in the
conduct of the war. The voice of an enemy is good au-
thority in his favor, and the pages of Tarleton's Campaigns,
written by that energetic enemy of American freedom,
will attest both his industry and his courage. In 1785
he was again elected Governor of the State, an office
for which, by the superior energy of his character, he
seemed admirably fitted. Having filled that station
during the regular constitutional period of his election, he
was shortly afterwards returned to the State Senate, and
was struck dead with an apoplexy, while officiating as its
Speaker. To no single individual is North Carolina more
indebted than to Governor Richard Caswell. He con-
tributed to her service not only his prayers and other
exercises of his mind, but personal influence and bodily
labor. He not only commanded armies and planned
batdes, but fought with his own hand ; and it is for this con-
stant devotion and sacrifice, that his character is cherished
as sacred by the people of North Carolina. A history of
his life would be a history of the revolution and of the
constitution, and presents one of the fairest subjects for an
historical memoir in the annals of the State.
Samuel Johnston, one of the depuUes from Chowan,
was eminently distinguished for the amiable virtues of pri-
vate life, as well as his zeal in the cause of American
freedom. He had been for many years one of the leading
12
134 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
Wliigs of the Province, and of the popular House of the
Assembly, and now headed the delegation fronn the patri-
otic county of Chowan. After the death of John Harvey,
he succeeded him in the trying and hazardous duties of
Moderator of the Provincial Congress, and manfully ful-
filled all the obligations which descended to him from his
predecessor. He was a gentleman of rank and education,
and his private papers exhibit an extensive and learned
correspondence, on the various rights of the Colonies, and
the equally various aggressions of the Ministry, In his
correspondence with Alexander Elmsly, in J 773, 1774,
and 1775, he appears to great advantage, not only as
a statesman and lawyer, but as an American patriot, and
one who had carefully weighed the chances of the then
approaching contest. Like nearly all the men of educa-
tion and rank at that day, he found much to dislike in the
present Constitution of the State ; and in the spring of
1776, while that instrument was the subject of con-
sultation, he urged his objections boldly, and, in one or two
instances, with success. In the old draft of the Constitu-
tion which was before the Committee of the Consiress
of April, 1776, there was a clause " empowering the
inhabitants to elect the Justices of the County Court."
The influence of Samuel Johnston, was arrayed against
this project, and it was struck out of the original draft.
It is well known that a draft of the Constitution was not
presented to the consideration of the Congress of the
spring of 1776, on account of a division in the Com-
mittee, and that this instrument does not appear the sub-
ject of a debate or discussion until the Convention of 1776,
by which body it was adopted. But even before its
adoption, or before it was reported to the House from the
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 135
select Committee, the clause on the popular election * of
the Judges of the County Court was reinstated. Samuel
Johnston, although not a member of the Convention, was
in Halifax ; and, by the exercise of his influence, he agaia
succeeded in subduing what he considered the evil
spirit of democracy. His views on the subject of the
Constitution were, that the departure from the principles
of the British government was too great, and that the un-
bridled will of the people was as dangerous a machine of
tyranny, as an irresponsible Monarch. Nor was he alone
in this opinion. Nearly all the intelligence to be found in
the Convention of 1776 was of this persuasion; and such
was the violence of the contest on this great principle, that
there was, even at that early day, a violent and dom-
inant democratic party, arrayed against the advocates
of a splendid government.
This dominant democratic party, however, did not in-
sult the rights or the dignity of courts of justice. Their
intemperate zeal was checked by the prudence and con-
trolling services of Caswell, who was essentially their
leader, and to whose forbearance we owe much of the
respectability of our present constitution. I am not aware
that Samuel Johnston ever surrendered the political prin-
ciples of his early life. The weakness of the State Gov-
ernments was the principal inducement for the present Con-
stitution of the United States, and, when that instrument
was presented for the approbation of the States, the aris-
tocratic party revived all its strength in its support. In
this cause, viz. the support of the Constitution of the Uni-
ted States, Mr. Johnston took a most active and influ-'
Letter of Johnston to Iredell.
136 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
ential part, and contribuied, more than any other citizen of
the State, to procure its adoption. He was President of
both the Conventions, uiiich assembled to discuss its mer-
its, and even while he filled this responsible station, he
was the Governor of the State. In the close of the year
1789, when the Constitution was adopted, he was elected
the first Senator to Conoress from North Carolina, a sta-
tion in which he nobly sustained the great reputation he
had acquired in the former service of his country. Hav-
ing filled nearly every office of distinction, within the gift
of the people, he died in 1816, blessed with the affections
of his fellow citizens, and with the remembrance of a well-
spent life.
General Thomas Person, was a Deputy from the coun-
ty of Granville, to the first Provincial Congress. 1 la-
ment the want of lime and space to expatiate on the life
of this extraordinary man. There is no name in our his-
tory more remarkable for its continued opposition to the
oppressions of the Royal government, and the undeviating
support of the privileges of the people. He was oppos-
ed to the Stamp Act, was a violent Regulator, and, al-
though his estate was ravaged"^ and his dwelling plundered
by the emissaries of Tryon, he subdued his feelings so
far as to forgive their robberies, when he had subsequent-
ly the power to punish them. He was a genuine Whig,
— not only opposed to the encroachments of the Bri-
tish Parliament, but to the high-handed extortion and
corruption of the administration of Governor Tryon. He
was elected one of the members of the Provincial Coun-
*The desk which the emissaries of Tryon broke open, while
ravaginjr his estate, is still in the Person family, and bears still the
mark of the hatchet that was used.
GOVERNOR MARTIN. I37
cil when that body was first instituted, after the flight of
Governor Martin; and at a subsequent period of our histo-
ry, was complimented by the erection of the County of
Person. In his declining years he displayed a munificent
spirit in the endowment of our University, with funds for
the erection of a College Chapel, a structure which still
bears the- name of Person Hall, and which sufficiently at-
tests his laudable zeal in the cause of education.
There were four members of this first Provincial Con-
gress, all bearing the same name, and all distinguislied for
their patriotism and zeal in the cause of their country.
Willie Jones, of Halifax, Thomas Jones, of Chowan, Allen
Jones, of North Hampton, and Joseph Jones, of Pasquotank,
deserve to be noticed as a numerous but able representation
of that celebrated Whig family. The early and continu-
ed support which they yielded to the rights of the people, as
well as the remarkable coincidence of their names, have
distinguished them as a patriotic band ; and I am not
aware that the whole history of tlie State presents a sin-
gle example, to impeach the Whig character of that ex-
tensive name. As the Revolution advanced, the accession
of the name to its cause continues, until the adoption of
the State Constitution, when the patience of computation
is exhausted, by the immense crowd which are presented
for the applause of posterity. The dissimilar characters
of the two brothers, Willie and Allen Jones, as well as
their respective merits, entitle them to a longer notice than
I have space to give. Observing that they were both em-
inently distinguished for their patriotism, during the pro-
gress of the war, 1 approach the position of these two
men during the contest on the Consfitution of the United
States. To Willie Jones, that instrument was indebted for
12*
138 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
its signal rejection in the Convention at Hillsborough in
1788 ; and to Allen Jones it was indebted for a warm and
most decided support. The first maintained a sullen si-
lence during the debates of that Convention, and sought
the private caucusses and meetings of the members, as a
theatre for his vehement denunciations of the Constitution,
as the charter of a consolidated government. The latter,
on every occasion, lauded it as a wise and prudent com-
promise, intended to rear up a splendid and respectable
government, on the dishonored fragments of the old Con-
federacy, and the abridged sovereignty of the States.
Both were faithful to their earliest principles. In 1776,
while the State Constitution was discussed in private let-
ters, and in public harangues, they divided on the same
principles ; and, while Willie Jones strenuously insisted on
our present Constitution, as the essence of democracy, his
brother declared it an unfit system of goverment, and was
the advocate of a powerful government, representing entire-
ly the intelligence, virtue, and wealth of the State. The
superiority of Willie Jones over every other individual of
the State in 1788, is best illustrated by the rejection of the
Constitution of the United States, by a majority of one
hundred in the Convention of that year. He was a schol-
ar, as well as an efficient business-man, and, in the language
of one of his contemporaries, " could draw a bill in better
language, than any other man of his day." He died at
his seat near Raleigh, and his remains still sleep in the
garden of his former mansion.*
Thomas Jones, of Chowan, was a lawyer of some dis-
tinction in those days, and carried the skill and prudence
* Now the property of the Hon. Henry Seawell.
GOVERNOR MARTIN. I39
of his profession to the American cause. Between this
man and Willie Jones rests the honor of having written the
Constitution of North Carolina. I speak upon the author-
ity of a deceased friend,* when 1 ascribe the distinction to
Thomas Jones, although I do not deny the claim of the
other. They were most undoubtedly the framers of the
instrument ; and it bears in so many instances the stamp of
the peculiar services of Willie Jones, that I cannot give
up the conclusion, which I formed some years since, that
he had a material agency in its composition, as well as its
adoption.
Of Joseph Jones, of Pasquotank, apart from the purity
of his private character and the undoubted patriotism of
his whole life, I have not much to say. One thing, how-
ever, deserves to be mentioned, highly illustrative of his
public spirit and enterprise. He, together with Benjamin
Jones, conceived the project of the Dismal Swamp Canal,
a work v/hich, after a revolution of more than a half a
century, successfully unites the waters of Virginia and
North Carolina, and pours into the mart of Norfolk the
rich products of the Albemarle and Roanoke. In North
Carolina, he is remembered for his long and perilous ser-
vice in the cause of her independence, more than for the
success of his enterprise. In Virginia a debt of gratitude
is due his memory, for the resuscitation of one of her an-
cient boroughs, and tlie new spirit of rivalry and enter-
prise, that broke forth in the jealous rival of the city of
Norfolk.
I must here terminate my sketches of the eminent men
of that Congress, and proceed to an examination of their
proceedings. On the 25th of August, 1774, they assem-
* The late Judge Murphy.
140
THE ADMINISTRATION OF
bled and organized, and, on the 2Gtli, it was resolved, that
three delegates be appointed to attend the General Con-
gress at Philadelphia in September. On Saturday the
27th, they adopted a variety of resolutions on the general
state of America, and a few only of local interest. They
commenced by the most solemn vows of loyalty for the
House of Hanover, and then, in the second Resolve, George
the Third is formally recognised as the Sovereign of the
Province, and His Majesty assured of their willingness to
support his succession, as by law established, against the
open or private attempts of any person or persons whatev-
er. After these submissive resolutions, the Congress pro-
ceeded to avow their rights, m a language which seemed
to mock the loyalty of the first two, by its violence and
total inconsistency. They claim the rights of English-
men, without abridgment, and swear they will sustain them
to the utmost of their power. They define those rights to
be, that no subject shall be taxed but by his own consent,
or that of his legal representative, and denounce in un-
measured terms every policy that assails this most sacred
right ; and yet such had been the policy of the sovereign,
whose authority they had sworn to maintain and defend.*
In every age and every clime, people, no matter how
much excited, are slow to embrace the idea of a revolu-
tion, and are wont prudently to survey the violence of the
waves, before they plunge into the whirlpool. They hesi-
tate on the threshold, and even after they have by their
own acts fairly entered, they deny the charge of rebellion
or revolution, as a reflection on their honor and patriotism.
The Congress, proceeding in the exposition of their rights,
condemned the several acts of Parliament, imposing du-
ties on the imports of the Colonies, as highly illegal and
* MS. Journal.
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 141
oppressive, and declared that the exportation of tea to
Boston was a trick to give effect to those abominable acts,
and thereby establish a precedent highly dishonorable to
America. I shall extract at length one of the resolutions.
'' Resolved, That the inliabitants of Massachusetts Province have
distinguished themselves in a manly support of the rights of Amer-
ica in general, and that the cause in which they now suffer is the
cause of every honest American, who deserves the blessings which
the Constitution holds forth to them. That the grievances, under
which the town of Boston labors at present, are the effect of a re-
sentment, levelled at them, for having stood foremost in an opposition
to measures, which must eventually have involved all British Amer-
ica in a state of abject dependence and servitude.'*
The Boston Port Bill was then censured, as an outrage
on the liberty of a British subject, and a violation " of the
chartered rights granted them by their Majesties, King
William and Queen Mary, and as tending to lessen that sa-
cred confidence which ought to be placed in the acts of
Kings." The trial by juries of the vicinage, was pro-
nounced the only lawful inquest that could pass upon
the life of a British subject ; and the sending of persons
beyond the seas to be tried in certain criminal cases, as
had been proposed in Massachusetts, was said to be fraught
with the highest injustice, and likely to produce fi-equent
bloodshed of the inhabitants.
They declared they would not, after the first day of Jan-
uary, 1775, import from any quarter of the globe any East
india Goods or British Manufactures, nor would they pur-
chase such articles so imported from any persons, except
such as were then in the country, or might arrive on or be-
fore the aforesaid 1st of January. They declared that,
unless American grievances were redressed before the
Ist of October, 1775, they would not export any tobacco,
142 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
pitch, tnr, turpentine, or any other articles whatever,
to Great Britain. They resolved not to use, nor suffer to
be used in their families, any East India Tea, after the
10th day of September, and declared all persons not com-
plying with that resolution, enemies to their country.
Their complaints, it will be seen, are generally borrowed
from the distresses of Boston, and show the closeness of
the various sympathies and ties, which, at so early a period,
united the American people.
One of the most important resolutions adopted by the
Congress was, that the people of the Province would
break off all trade or commerce of any kind, with
any city or town, or with any individual in such city
or town, that should refuse, decline, or neglect to
adopt or carry into execution, such general plan as should
be agreed to in the Continental Congress. The resolve on
the propriety of the Continental Congress is as follows.
"Resolved, That we approve of the proposal of a General Con-
gress to be held in the city of Philadelphia, on the 20th of Sep-
tember next, then and there to deliberate upon the present state of
British America, and to take such measures as they may deem pru-
dent, to effect the purpose of describing with certainty the rights of
Americans, repairing the breaches made in those rights, and for
guarding them for the future, from any such violations done under
the sanction of public authority.
" Resolved, That William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, and Richard
Caswell, Esquires, and every of them, be deputies to attend such
Congress ; and they are hereby invested with such powers as may
make any act done by them, obligatory in honor upon every inhab-
itant of the Province, who is not an alien to his country's good and
an apostate to the liberties of America."
I invite the attention of the reader to the latter resolve,
as highly illustrative of the great degree of confidence re-
posed in the three delegates by the whole Congress. The
pnlirnited discretion, with which these gentlemen were in-
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 143
vested, will likewise show the eagerness of the people of
North Carolina to cooperate in the scheme of general
revolution.
I here extract two other resolutions, expressive of the
opinion of the Congress on the policy of the Ministry,
and which seem to conclude their deliherations on Con-
tinental affairs.
" Resolved, That we view the attempts made by the Ministers
upon the Town of Boston, as a prelude to a general attack upon the
rights of the other Colonies, and that upon the success of this depends,
in a great measure, the happiness of America, in its present race
and in posterity ; and that therefore it becomes our duty to con-
tribute, in proportion to our abilities, to ease the burthen imposed
upon that Town, for their virtuous opposition to the Revenue Acts,
that they may be enabled to persist in a prudent and manly oppo-
sition to the schemes of Parliament, and render its dangerous de-
signs abortive.
" Resolved, That Liberty is the spirit of the British Constitution,
and that it is the duty, and will be the endeavour of us all, to transmit
this happy Constitution to our posterity in a state, if possible, bet-
ter than we found it ; and that to suffer it to undergo a change, which
may impair that invaluable blessing, would be to disgrace those an-
cestors, who, at the expense of their blood, purchased those privi-
leges, which their degenerate posterity are too weak or too wicked
to maintain inviolate."
This last spirited resolve, founded on the distresses of
Boston, reflects the highest honor on the patriotism and
virtue of our ancestors, and deserves to be cherished as a
venerable monument of the philadelphian character of
the old American Colonies. The people of North Caro-
lina, as has been before mentioned, suffered nothing from
the aggressions of the Ministry, except a denial of their
rights, and appealed to the outrages committed on their
brethren of Boston as the source of their discontent, and
as a ground of rebellion.
The Congress, as was usual in all the Provinces, gave
144
THE ADMINISTRATION OF
writien instructions to their delegates ; and, as similar in-
structions have in several instances been published, to show
the Whig spirit of those days, I shall present an exact
transcript of those given to the North Carolina delegation.
" Resolved, That the follovvinjr be instructions for the deputies,
appointed to meet in General Congress on the part of this Colony,
to wit :
" That they express our sincere attachment to our most gracious
Sovereign, George the Third, and our determined resolution to sup-
port his lawful authority in this Province ; at the same time, that
we cannot depart from a steady adherence to the first law of nature,
a firm and resolute defence of our persons and properties, against
all unconstitutional encroachments whatsoever.
« That they assert our right to all the privileges of British subjects,
particularly that of paying no taxes or duties but with our own con-
sent, and that the legislature of the Province have the exclusive
power of making laws to regulate our internal polity, subject to his
Majesty's disallowance.
" That, should the British Parliament continue to exercise the
powder of laying taxes and duties on the Colonies, and making laws
to bind them in all cases whatsoever, such laws must be highly un-
constitutional and oppressive to the inhabitants of British America,
who have not, and from their local circumstances cannot have, a
fair and equal representation in the British Parliament; and that
these disadvantages must be greatly enhanced by the misrepresen-
tations of designing men, inimical to the Colonies, the influence of
whose reports cannot be guarded against, by reason of the distance
of America from them, or, as has been unhappily experienced in the
case of the town of Boston, where the ears of the administration
have been shut against every attempt to vindicate a people, who
claimed only the right of being heard in their own defence.
" That, therefore, until we obtain an explicit declaration and ac-
knowledgment of our rights, we agree to stop all imports from Great
Britain, after the first day of January, 1775, and that we will not ex-
port any of our commodities to Great Britain after the first day of
October, 1775.
" That they concur with the deputies or delegates from the oth-
er colonies in such regulations, addresses, or remonstrances, as may
be deemed most probable to restore a lasting harmony, and good un-
derstanding with Great Britain, a circumstance we most sincerely
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 145
and ardently desire, and that they agree with the majority of them
in all necessary measures for promoting a redress of such griev-
ances, as may come under their consideration."
Such are the instructions of the Congress to the dele-
gates, and they are marked by the same inconsistency which
was observed in their first deliberative effort. The King
was the lawful sovereign, and they were determined to
support his authority ; but they cannot depart from a steady
adherence to a principle which they have long loved, viz.
that of resisting encroachments on their rights against any
authority whatever.
The most important local subject which was discussed
during this Congress, was the non-importation of slaves
from the coast of Africa. In one of their resolves I ob-
serve it positively interdicted, — not in a spirit of hostility
to the commerce of England, or with a view to derive an
exclusive benefit from such a trade, — but in the unequiv-
ocal language of the resolve, " That they will not import
any slave or slaves, nor purchase any slave or slaves im-
ported or brought into this Province by others, from any
part of the world, after the first day of November next."
If I considered such a proposition as a fit one for discus-
sion in this volume, I should embrace the opportunity to
suggest a dissentient opinion, to the expediency of this
step of our forefathers. The wise framers of the Con-
stitution of the Union did not appreciate such a step as
an instantaneous termination of the slave-trade, and un-
derstood too w^ell the rights of the people, and the extent
of our commerce, to assail so vitally the existence
of so extensive a trade. The ships of New England
were profitably employed in such a commerce, and
the Southern States acknowledge the benefit and favor of
their agency, in the extent and rate of their purchases.
13
X46 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
The morality of that age had not been attuned, like that
of the present day, by the exciting harangues and pub-
Hcations of fanatics and demagogues ; but the right of prop-
erty was respected, and the stability and peace of the
community considered, as not an indifferent point in the
civil duties of a good citizen. The importation of barba-
rians from the deserts of Africa, to the genial, fruitful,
and Christian clime of North America, and their gradual
regeneration, was considered as a requital for many of the
horrors of slavery, which now figure in the visionary
schemes of agitators and emancipators. The prejudices
of birth may be invincible ; but I shall be slow to acknowl-
edge the consequent purity of all men, who deny the le-
gal existence of such a relation as master and slave, and
whose only anticipated delight seems to be, the destruction
of our property, or the massacre of our people.
In this Congress the principle of voting by counties and
towns was adopted, as the most suitable method of decid-
ing all differences which might arise in their deliberations.
This singular mode seems to have been adopted on ac-
count of the irregular numbers of deputies, which, from
peculiar reasons, each county would sometimes appoint.
In many of the small counties, four and frequently five or
six aspiring men were candidates for the suffrages of the
people ; and, in all such cases, prudence suggested the
propriety of tying them more closely to the Whig cause,
by a general election. Even the small boroughs conclud-
ed to send a more numerous deputation ; nor was this an
impediment to the despatch of public business, or an ex-
pensive grievance to the Province, as each county or town
commanded but one vote, and paid the expenses of its
own members. The system of voting by counties was
GOVERNOR MARTIN. I47
of great service in preventing long and distracting debates,
and destroyed the influence of such members as were se-
cretly indisposed to the general cause. The execution of
the Resolves of the Congress was entrusted to a County
Committee, which the deputies of each county and town
were instructed to have elected ; and here the admirers of
an absolute democracy may find a noble and worthy exam-
ple for their respect and admiration. These County Com-
mittees soon sprang into existence at the recommendation
of the deputies, and proved the most active instruments
engaged in the revolution of the country. The number
five, proposed by the Congress, was not respected in many
of the counties ; and this disobedience was atoned for, by
a most rigorous execution of the duties of their office.
When the freeholders of the county of Bute assembled at
the old Court House, on Shocco, for the purpose of elect-
ing the Committee, a variety of propositions were submit-
ted as to the proper number of persons to compose it ;
and, amidst the debate, Benjamin Ward, a much respected
Esquire of the county, suggested that one should be se-
lected from each Kin, — to use his own homely expres-
sion. He supported his proposition with success, and
accordingly one Committee-man was elected from each
family, which had the desired effect of uniting all the
relatives to the Whig cause. The rigid scrutiny of these
County Committees soon detected 'all suspicious persons.
They extorted oaths of loyalty to the American cause,
and the signal punishment which they dealt out to all hap-
less recusants, made the doubtful sincere and zealous, and
the refractory and decided Tories, silent and indifferent.
The only two acts of the Congress which remain for me
to notice, are the resolution making a provision for the
148 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
future existence of the body, and the last act of thanks to
their able and fearless Moderator. With regard to the
first, it was agreed that the Moderator, or in case of his
death, Samuel Johnston, might at any time call them to-
gether, at such place as he might deem proper, and,
in case of the death or absence of any deputies, it was
recommended that others should be elected. I shall ex-
tract the vote of thanks to Colonel Harvey, as a duty which
history and posterity alike owe his fame.
" Resolved, That the thanks of this meeting be given
" to the Honorable John Harvey, Esquire, Moderator, for
" his faithful exercise of that office, and the service he has
" thereby rendered this Province and the freedom of
" America in general."
The duty which Colonel Harvey had performed, in call-
ing together this Congress without authority from any quar-
ter, either the Governor or the people, was a perilous step,
and one which might have cost him his life or estate, had
the authority of the Royal government been sufficiently
strong. He had affixed his name to many of the hand-
bills and advertisements, which called upon the people to
elect delegates, and which provoked a Proclamation from
Governor Martin. He did not shun the dangerous distinc-
tion of presiding over the first Independent Provincial
Congress, although it was denounced by the Governor as a
treasonable assemblage ; and it will be seen, at a subse-
quent period, that he did not hesitate to issue his proclama-
tion convening the Congress, on the same day with that of
the Provincial Assembly.
After the adjournment of the Provincial Congress, Gov-
ernor Martin visited New-York, for the benefit of his
health, and perhaps for the benefit of his government.
GOVERNOR MARTIN. I49
The tumults that raged around him, at New Berne, and
which threatened to overthrow his power, were, by his own
confessions, beyond his control ; but the prudent counsel
and great influence of Governor Tryon, who still govern-
ed New- York, might restore peace and authority to the
Governor . of North Carolina. He was desirous, too, of
being in the vicinity of the Continental Congress, that he
might observe the conduct of the more contiguous Royal
governors, and thus regulate his own government. Dur-
ing his absence the administration of the government de-
volved upon James Hasell, the President of the Council,
a gentleman even of less energy and popularity than Gov-
ernor IMartin. In the course of this temporary govern-
ment, the only matters worthy of notice, in which Presi-
dent Hasell acted a part, occurred on the 8th of October,
in the proceedings of a meeting of the Council. The
excited state of the public mind forbade the meeting of
the Assembly, and accordingly it was by advice prorogued
until the 24th of November. His Honor was pleased to
communicate to the Board His Majesty's order in coun-
cil under the Royal sign manual, dated the 1st of June
preceding, signifying and declaring the Royal disapproba-
tion and disallowance of several acts of Assembly, and,
among many others, an Act for the Relief of Insolvent
Debtors. This act I noticed in my remarks on the first
Assembly of 1773, as having been introduced by William
Hooper. It was now repealed by the Royal disallowance,
but was revived in 1777, by the Assembly of the State, and
is still referred to in practice, when the debtor refuses to
take the benefit of a later statute. An act too, which had
been extorted by the popular House from Governor Mar-
tin, for the more speedy recovery of all debts and de-
13*
150 GOVERNOR MARTIN.
mands under five pounds, as well as the fee bill, was re-
jected by the same authority, and these vetos of the King
were not of a character to conciliate the angry feelings of
the people. In the mean time, the Continental Congress
had, on the 5th of September, assembled, and found its
body filled by delegates from all the Provinces except
Georgia. The proceedings of this Congress, as applied
to the history of North Carolina, I shall notice in the Third
Part of the volume ; in this place I shall only observe the
nature of the celebrated association, which was there form-
ed, and which w^as circulated and adopted throughout the
country. By the sacred ties of virtue, honor, and love of
country, they bound themselves and their constituents not
to import, after the first day of December, 1774, from
Great Britain, or Ireland, any goods whatever, or from any
other place any goods thus imported. A resolution of
non-importation, after the 10th of September, 1775, was
adopted, which should be repealed by the intermediate re-
peal of the offensive acts of Parliament. Copies of this
associadon were carried into each Province by the dele-
gates, and laid before the Provincial Congress for their ap-
probation. It served to test tholoyalty of many pretended
Whigs, and to direct the attention and sympathies of the
people to a scheme of union and united action.
CHAPTER IV.
THt ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR MARTIN.
(continued.)
(1775.) This year is full of important events, and
during its course, the downfall of the Royal government
occurred. The political leaders of the day now threw
aside all disguise, and announced to the people the ap-
proach of a civil and foreign war, for the preservation of
the inherent rights of British subjects. It is pleasing to the
historian to arrive at such a period in his narrative, when
all hope or even anxiety for a compromise has been ex-
tinguished, and all artificial and equivocal homage to the
Throne, disavowed in the gallantry and enthusiasm of an
injured people. In the revolution of the year 1775, the
people of North Carolina, enamoured with the idea of inde-
pendence, overthrew the Royal government, and abjured
all allegiance to their hereditary sovereign.
Governor Martin, after having enjoyed an interview with
Governor Tryon, previous to his departure for England,
returned to his own government in the month of January.
On the 10th of February he issued a proclamation against
the legality of a purchase of territory effected by Rich-
ard Henderson (formerly one of the Royal Judges), John
Williams, and others, from the Cherokee Indians. The
purchase included lands in the present State of Kentucky,
and was alleged to be in violation of the Royal proclama-
tion of date the 7th of October, 1763, as well as an act
152 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
of the Provincial Assembly. I have in my possession (by
the courtesy and kindness of the late Chief Justice) the
papers and letters of his father during his travels and resi-
dence in the wilderness. They constitute a mass of rich
material for the early history of Kentucky, as well as the
best evidence of the enterprise and sagacity of their au-
thor.
In the provisions of the bill, restricting the trade of the
Colonies to Great Britain, Ireland, and the British West In-
dies, which was passed by Parliament in the month of Feb-
ruary, 1775, North Carolina and New-York were except-
ed. " The historians of the adjacent States " have ob-
served this exception with a suspicious curiosity, and 1
here introduce at length, and without curtailment, the fol-
lowing letter from Alexander Elmsly to Governor Samuel
Johnston, which vi'ill be found to explain the true reason of
the exception. Mr. Elmsly, as I have before stated, was
one of the agents of the popular House resident in London.
" London, April 7th, 1775.
"Dear Sir,
" Yours by Capt. Scott came to hand in due season, as did the
money for Mr. Barker, which is at his credit. Your Bill £100,
order Mr. Ferrear, was this day paid.
" I am happy to hear of your having a little boy ; he is about ten
months younger than my little fellow, who came to supply his sis-
ter's place, as did yours. You must take great care of him, and if
you can rear him to the age of four or five years, and afterwards
trust me with him, they shall be brought up together, as if they were
both of the same stock. You must keep him out of the sun in sum-
mer, and yet keep him out of doors as much as possible ; there is no
other way of raising children in your climate. Could you strike
the months of June, July, and August, out of your calendar, you
would be immortal ; but as it stands, you are little better than birds
of passage.
" Your politics are past my expectations, and out of my reach.
I thought incorporating you would not only have remedied the dis-
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 153
order, but have given additional vigor to the Constitution; but, ex-
cepting our friend Mr. Barker, nobody either here or there is of the
same opinion ; therefore 1 shall suppose for the present, that he and
I are mistaken, and wait with resignation the event of the measures
adopted on both sides of the water.
" On our side they are as follows : —
"Imo. The House of Commons have voted by resolve, that if you
will tax yourselves for the purpose of supporting your own estab-
lishments, and also contribute a certain sum for the general safety,
the amount of which to be satisfactory to the King and Parliament,
and to be at their disposal, then the Parliament will desist from lay-
ing any further taxes for the present. This, they say, is holding out
to you the olive branch ; I say it is a dirty, disgracing, degrading ex-
pedient, compared to mine ; but it is so much akin to a similar one
proposed in the House of Lords by Lord Chatham, and approved of
by Franklin and the other Americans here, that I must suppose my-
self again mistaken.
2do. A bill has received the Royal assent for preventing the four
New England Colonies from fishing, after the 25th of June next, and
another has been read three times, in the House of Commons, for
restraining the trade of all the associated Colonies to Great Britain
and the British West Indies ; out of this restraint, however, New
York and North Carolina are excepted ; the former because their
Assembly did not recognise the new laws, the latter for reasons not
generally known ; they are, however, one or all of the following ;
1st. Mr. Barker and myself, instead of the petition you sent us
(which contained besides strange inaccuracies, indirect reflections on
the Parliament, or the Ministry at least), drew up a memorial in more
decent terms, which we left a rough draught of with Mr. Pownal,
the Secretary, for his inspection, previous to its being presented to
the Board. This was about the 10th of February ; in two or three
days we called to know his sentiments on it; he told us he had pe-
rused it, approved of it, and pressed us much and repeatedly to
have it lodged as soon as possible, which was done the next day.
Two or three days after, Lord North moved for the restraining bill in
the House of Commons, and North Carolina was and still is left out.
The next reason is, we have as yet received no account of your As-
sembly, or rather the members of it, having ratified the new laws,
nor have you been charged with any excesses in the execution of
them. The last, and perhaps the best reason is. Governor Tryon
(who returns to New York immediately) is much your friend, and
154 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
I doubt not has exerted himself in your behalf accordingly. Wheth
eryou will tliank us for this distinction, or not, whether it will no
be considered as opprobrious instead of honorable, whether Mr. B
and myself will be censured, or not, as having been in all proba-
bility instrumental in bringing it about, I do not pretend to say
But in our defence, or rather in mine, for it was with much reluc
tance he consented to suppress the petition, you will take notice,
that when your Memorial was presented, we had no idea that such
restraining bill was intended ; on the other hand, should this exemp-
tion be received favorably, give us no credit for it, for, had it not been
for a tenderness we had for the reputation of your Assembly, as
having been long members of it, your Petition, exceptionable as it
is, should have been presented. I do not know whether you ever
perused it, but my objections to it were, first that a memorial from
us was as good as it, and next that you generally address the King
as the people of New England do each other, in the third person ; for
instance, you say, in more places than one, ' Your Majesty in his
great goodness, in his great wisdom,' &c. instead of ' your goodness,'
&c. ; this might have passed from a poor ignorant criminal, begging
his life, but surely better things would have been expected from
your Assembly. Besides this objection, there was another. You say
you have been taught to expect redress from the Throne alone, i. e.
you expect none from the Ministry or the Parliament. How far you
are well grounded, I do not know ; but as I well know that none of
these petitions ever reach the Throne, but through the hands of the
Ministry, to whom they are left as an ordinary piece of business,
I thought, and I still think, it would have been preposterous to have
presented a petition, which, amongst other things, sets forth that the
petitioner, from past experience, did not doubt of having his petition
rejected. This objection, however, alone, would not have had much
weight, at least not enough to have prevented our presenting the
Petition ; but, on account of both together, it was agreed to suppress
it, and to substitute a Memorial in its room, and keep the whole a
secret ; and I am not sure whether Mr. Barker would not be dissat-
isfied, if he knew that this matter had been communicated even to
you ; therefore pray say nothing about it. With respect to the suc-
cess of your Memorial, we can at present form no judgment of it,
but are told that by next packet the matter will be settled, and if no
bad news arrives from Carolina in the mean time, we hope it will be
in part settled to your satisfaction.
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 155
" You ask Mr. Barker to let you know who it was that first moved,
here, against your Court laws. Neither he nor I know certainly ; but
when old Mr. McCulloh, as your agent, first received an account
of your Court Bill miscarrying, on account of an instruction to your
Governor against attachments, he hinted that Lord Hillsborough,
then Secretary of State for America, and Lord Hertford, then and
now Lord Chamberlain, and both Members of the Privy Council, and
North of Ireland men, and friends and neighbours of your Dobbi's,
might probably, at their solicitation, have been the means of send-
ing out the instruction. You know Nash had an attachment depend-
ing against their estate ; this is only conjecture, but I tliink it prob-
able ; because, had the measure originated amongst the merchants,
we certainly should have heard of it long ago ; as you say, however,
it is not of much consequence now, as the new laws have taken
place, whether the old ones are restored or not.
" Old Franklin is gone to Philadelphia, some people say to second
Lord North's plan of your taxing yourselves; but I know nothing of
the matter.
" There is an account received that the transports are sailed from
Cork, and next week the Generals Howe, Burgoyne, and Clin-
ton follow them from hence in a man of war ; some of these troops
are destined for New York, and two companies with a sloop are to
be sent to Georgia.
" Should your Assemblies refuse to adopt Lord North's plan, and
our Parliament persevere, you will have another new set of laws
soon established. They say your seaports are to be turned into gar-
rison towns, and the people of the country left at liberty to form any
establishment they think proper. Should this regulation take place,
I hope you will have no occasion to turn soldier. Your Governor, I
suppose, will take up his residence amongst the musquetoes at Brea-
cok, and you will be a Congress or Committee man, instead of a
military man. 1 like neither character, but hope you will never have
occasion to take upon you the latter especially.
'' Mrs. Elmsly joins me in compliments and best wishes to you and
yours.
" I am, dear Sir,
" Your affte. friend and h'ble serv't,
ALEX'R. ELMSLY."
CHAPTER V.
THK ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR MARTIN.
(continued.)
\ SHALL now sketch the conduct of his Excellency and
the Council, anterior to the meeting of the Second Provin-
cial Congress, on the 3d of April. On the 1 1th of Feb-
ruary John Harvey issued a proclamation, or notice, re-
questing the people of the counties and towns to elect
deputies to represent them in a Provincial Congress, on
Monday, the 3d of April. These papers were industri-
ously circulated, and the elections were quietly proceed-
ing in many of the counties and towns, when, on the 1st of
March, the Governor informed the Council Board, that he
had ohserved these notices dated " Perquimons County,"
and signed "John Harvey," and, considering such proceed-
ings highly derogatory to the dignity of the Legislature,
appointed to meet on the same day, and in every light
illegal, and inconsistent with good order and government,
recommended the matter to the consideration of his coun-
cillors ; when they, conceiving the highest detestation of
such proceedings, were unanimous in advising his Excel-
lency to issue a proclamation, forbidding such illegal meet-
ing, in the following words :
" North Carolina, ss.
" By His Excellency Josiah Martin, Esq. &c.
" A PROCLAMATION.
" Whereas, an advertisement is printed in the public newspapers,
and also industriously circulated about this Colony in handbills, dat-
GOVERNOR MARTIN. ^57
ed Perquimons county, the eleventh day of February, 1775, request-
ing the counties and towns thereof to elect delegates, to represent
them in convention at the town of New Berne, on Monday the third
day of April next, and signed John Harvey, Moderator. And where-
as the name and authority of such an officer, and such a meeting,
is unknown to the laws and Constitution, and such an invitation to
the people may tend to ensnare the unwary and ignorant among His
Majesty's loyal and faithful subjects in this Province, to partake in
the guilt of such unlawful proceeding ; and whereas, the Assembly
of this Province, duly elected, is the only true and lawful represen-
tation of the people, and is competent to every legal act that rep-
resentatives of the people can do ; and as an attempt to excite the
people to choose another body of representatives, to meet at the time
and place appointed for the meeting of the Assembly, is to betray
them into a violation of the Constitution, in points wherein they are
most materially concerned to support it, — a contempt of that branch
of the Legislature which represents the people, — and highly deroga-
tory to its power, rights, and privileges ; I have thought proper, by
and with the advice and consent of His Majesty's Council of this
Province, to issue this Proclamation, and I do hereby exhort the
many good people of this Province, who have, to their honor, hitherto
prudently withstood the insidious attempts of evil-minded and de-
signing men, that they do on this occasion steadfastly persevere in
such loyal and dutiful conduct, and continue to resist and treat
with just indignation all measures so subversive of order and govern-
ment, and so inconsistent with the allegiance they owe to his Ma-
jesty, and that they do not subject themselves to the restraints of
tyrannical and arbitrary Committees, which have already in many in-
stances proceeded to the extravagance of forcing His Majesty's sub-
jects, contrary to their consciences, to submit to their unreasonable
and chimerical resolves, doing thereby the most cruel and unpar-
alleled violence to their liberties, under the pretence of relieving
them from imaginary grievances. And I do hereby further exhort
all His Majesty's subjects in this Province, as they value their dear-
est rights, under the present happy Constitution, and as they would
testify their duty and allegiance to the best of Kings, that they for-
bear to meet to choose persons, to represent them in convention pur-
suant to the advertisement herein before recited. And I also do
most earnestly recommend to them to renounce, disclaim, and dis-
courage all such meetings, cabals, and illegal proceedings, which
artful and designing men shall attempt to engage them in, and which
14
158 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
can only tend to introduce disorder and anarchy, to the destruction
of the real interest and happiness of the people, and to involve this
Province in confusion, disgrace, and ruin.
" Given under my hand, «fcc., A. D. 1775, March 1st.
(Signed) " JO. MARTIN.
" God save the King."
This frothy Proclamation was, however, of no avail,
and the zeal of the Whigs only increased when they per-
ceived the discomfiture of the angry Governor. The
Royal government was tottering to its base, and the in-
temperate language of Governor Martin, as well as the
firm and decided stand of the Whig leader, was an omin-
ous sign of its fall. Finding that his violent Proclamation
could not intimidate the people, and that the delegates
were in many instances likewise members of the Assem-
bly, on the 2d of April he convoked the Council, and ac-
quainted them that he had received his Majesty's com-
mand to use his utmost endeavours to prevent the appoint-
ment of delegates to the Continental Congress, and that
as a Provincial Congress was to assemble in New Berne
on the next day, for that illegal purpose, he desired to be
advised as to the measures proper to be taken to prevent
the organization of that unlawful assembly. The Council
declared that his Excellency had no other means than to
issue a Proclamation ; and accordingly another vehement
document appeared on the morning of the od of April,
denouncing the proposed Convention, and calling upon the
members, in the King's name, to desist from the election
of delegates to the Continental Congress, and to withdraw
themselves from the aforesaid Convention, on pain of his
Majesty's high displeasure. The Provincial Congress con-
vened on the 3d of April, and Colonel John Harvey filled the
chair of that body. The Congress did nothing more than
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 159
organize on the first day ; and, vesting their Moderator with
the power of controlling the periods of meeting, they ad-
journed, and on the next day assumed the shape of a Pro-
vincial Assembly, and waited on his Excellency for the des-
patch of public business. I shall first notice the proceed-
ings of the Congress, which, like the Assembly, continued
in session' only a few days. The most important business
presented for their consideration was the proceedings of
the Continental Congress, and as Messrs. Hooper, Cas-
well, and Hewes were all present as members of the Con-
gress, they proceeded, on the 5th of April, to lay before
their constituents the association entered into at Philadelphia
on the 20th of October, 1774. Richard Caswell present-
ed it, signed by the members of the Continental Congress,
and, after it was read, a resolution was adopted by the
Congress, approving of the said association, and firmly
pledging themselves to adhere to its provisions, and to re-
commend its adoption to their constituents. It was then
signed by all the deputies of the Convention, except
Thomas Macknight of Currituck, who was, on a succeed-
ing day, denounced in the following bitter terms, —
" Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Convention, that, from
the disingenuous and equivocal behaviour of Thomas Macknight, it
is manifest his intentions are inimical to the cause of American lib-
erty, and we do hold him up as a proper object of contempt to this
Continent, and recommend that every person break off all connec-
tion and have no future commercial intercourse or dealing with him.
Resolved, That the above Resolve be published in the Gazettes of
this and the neighboring Colonies."
The conduct of the delegates to the Continental Con-
gress was not only highly approved; but the Moderator re-
quested, in a set speech, to return them the thanks of th©
Convention and the Colony. After this ceremony was over.
160 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
Colonel Harvey, as one of the members froiii Perquimons,
rose in his seat, and, in another set speech, relnined ihenn
the thanks of the people of Perquimons, which had been
voted on the llth day of March, at a meeting of the peo-
ple of that county. But the best evidence of the entire
approbation of the Whig party which the delegates to the
Continental Congress received, was their re-appointment
with the same discretionary powers. In the warm lan-
guage of that day, they were most heartily beloved, and,
in every section of the Province, their names were pro-
verbial for patriotism and devotion to the Whig principles
of their countrymen.
The following general declaration of rights was adopted
before the adjournment of the Convention.
*' Resolved, That His Majesty's subjects have an undoubted right at
any time to meet and petition the Throne for a redress of grievancesy
and that such right includes a further right of appointing delegates
for such purpose, and therefore that the Governor's Proclamation is-
sued to forbid this meeting, and his Proclamation afterwards com-
manding this meeting to disperse, are illegal, and an infringement
of our just rights, and therefore ought to be disregarded as wanton
and arbitrary exertions of power."
In this Provincial Congress, there appeared several
counties and towns which were not represented in the
first, and nearly all of them returned an increased number
of deputies. From the county of Guilford, which did
not appear in the first, Alexander Martin, afterwards Gov-
ernor of the State, appeared ; Parker Quince represented
the borough of Brunswick ; Cornelius Harnett, Wilming-
ton ; and John Hinton, one of the commanders in the
battle of AUemance, Michael Rogers, and Tignal Jones,
appeared as deputies from the county of Wake. The
Convention or Congress (for they are terms indifferently
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 161
used in their own proceedings), after having provided for
a future meeting, adjourned on the 7th of April. The
Provincial Assembly met on the 4ih of April, and the
popular House elected John Harvey their Speaker. This
body consisting, with but few exceptions, of the delegates
to the Congress, sat for only four days, when it was dis-
solved by Proclamation. There is something farcical in
the conduct of these two bodies. The Congress would
be in session, when Mr. Biggleston, the Governor's Sec-
retary, would arrive ; and then Mr. Moderator Harvey
would turn himseif into Mr. Speaker Harvey, and pro-
ceed to the despatch of public business. The Assembly,
too, occasionally forgot its duty, and trespassed on the
business of the Congress. On the 7th of April, I find
them engaged in passing resolutions in favor of the Con-
tinental Congress, and complimenting Hooper, Caswell,
and.Hewes; and they would undoubtedly have continued
their deliberations on Continental affairs, had not the Gov-
ernor dissolved them on the next da}'. The court law
and attachment controversy were now forgotten, and, in
the elegant language of the play-bills, were " laid aside to
make room for forthcoming novelties,''^ As this is the last
Assembly that ever convened under the Royal government,
I shall lay before my readers the speech of Governor
Martin, and the answer or address of the popular House.
They are important papers, and will better illustrate the
history of the times than any disquisition of mine.
The last Speech of Josiah Martin, the last Royal
Governor.
" Gentlemen of His Majesty's Honorable Council,
" Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,
" I have met you in General Assembly, in hopes that, dismissing
every cause of private dissension from your minds, you will calmly,
unitedly, and faithfully apply yourselves to the discharofe of the high
14^
162 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
and important office of legislation, in which you bear so great a
share, according to the Constitution of this country, that calls upon
you for relief at this time, in a most peculiar and pressing manner.
" I look, Gentlemen, with the extremest horror and concern to the
consequences of the violent and unjustifiable proceedings in some
of His Majesty's Colonies of this Continent, where in many places
the innocent, unwary, and ignorant part of the people have been
cruelly betrayed into measures highly inconsistent with tlieir duty
and allegiance to our most Gracious Sovereign and the State, that
tends immediately to involve them in the most embarrassing diffi-
culties and distresses, and which, if pursued, must inevitably pre-
cipitate these Colonies from their present unparalleled state of pros-
perity, into a train of miseries most dreadful to contemplate, whence
ages of time will not redeem them to their now envied felicity.
You, Gentlemen, are bound by your duty to the King, to the State,
and to this people, as well as 1 by mine, to obviate the contagion of
these evil examples in this country, and to defend it if possible from
the ruin and destruction to which they plainly lead. I see with in-
finite concern, the unhappy influence they have already had among
us. The meetings to which the people have been excited, the ap-
pointment of Committees, the violence these little, unrestrained, and
arbitrary tribunals have done to the rights of His Majesty's subjects,
the flagrant and unpardonable insults they have off"ered to the high-
est authorities of the State, by some of their acts which have been
made public, and the stop that has been put in some of the counties
to the regular course of justice, in imitation of the unwarrantable
measures taken in other Colonies, but too plainly evince their bane-
ful progress here, and loudly demand the most effectual exertion of
your restraining and correcting powers. You are now, Gentlemen
of the Assembly, by your duty to yourselves, and to your constit-
uents, most peculiarly called upon to oppose a meeting of delegates
which the people have been invited to choose, and who are appointed
to assemble at this very time and place, in the face of the Legisla-
ture. This illegal meeting, pursuant to my duty to the King and
the Constitution of this country, and from a regard to your digni-
ty and the just rights of the people, I have counteracted, and 1 shall
continue to resist it by every means in my power. What can this
mean, Gentlemen ? — Are you not the only lawful representatives of
the people in this country, and competent to every legal purpose ?
Will you then submit to see your constituents misled to violate their
dearest privileges, by wounding your dignity and setting up repre-
GOVERNOR MARTIN.
163
sentatives derogatory to your just power and authority ? This Gen-
tlemen, is an insult to you, of so violent a nature, that it appears to
me to demand your every possible discouragement j for its evident
tendency is to create a belief in the people that they are capable
of electing representatives of superior powers to the members of
your House, which, if it can possibly obtain, must lead to obvious
consequences, to the destruction of the essence, if not the very be-
ing of an Assembly in this Province, and finally to the utter disso-
lution and overthrow of its; established happy Constitution. This,
Gentlemen, among others I have before mentioned, is one of the
fatal expedients employed in some of the other Colonies, under the
influence of factious and wicked men, intent upon promotino- their
own horrid purposes, at the hazard of their country's ruin. I hope
they have been adopted here more from a spirit of imitation than
ill principles, and that you, clearly discerning the mischiefs with
which they are pregnant, will heartily concur with me in opposing
dawnings of so dangerous a system.
" As an object of the greatest consequence to all the Colonies, I
would recommend it to your first attention to employ your utmost
care and assiduity, to remove those false impressions by which the
engines of sedition have labored to effect, but too successfully, a
most unnatural division between the parent State and these Col-
onies, which under her protecting, indulgent, fostering care, have
attained to a degree of prosperity beyond all example. The basest
arts have been practised upon the innocent people, and they have
been blindly led to partake in guilt to which their hearts are confes-
sedly averse ; and thus step by step they will be seduced from their
duty, and all the bonds of civil society will be destroyed, unless
timely remedies are applied. This, Gentlemen, is a melancholy
prospect, that must seriously alarm every good subject, every hu-
mane, every honest man ; and it will be your duty as guardians of
the constitutional rights of the people, rigorously to oppose pro-
ceedings so manifestly subversive of their freedom and happiness.
Be it your care then, Gentlemen, to undeceive the people, to lead
them back, from the dangerous precipice to which an ill spirit of fac-
tion is urging them, to the paths of their duty ; set before them the
sacred tie of allegiance by which as subjects they are bound to the
State ; inform them of the reciprocal benefits which their strict ob-
servance thereof entitles them to, and warn them of the danger to
which they must expose their lives and properties, and all that they
hold dear by revolting from it.
164 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
" The frequent occasions you have had in your several capacities
as members of the legislature, and magistrates, most solemnly to
swear this allegiance, which is an implied duty upon every subject
of every State, when it is not professed and declared, must have
brought it home to your own consideration, and you are therefore
certainly well qualified to explain the obligatory nature and impor-
tance of it to the people. They will naturally look up to you for
a rule of conduct in these wild and distempered times; and I have
no doubt that, taught by your example, they will immediately re-
turn to their duty and obedience to the laws, and gladly free them-
selves from that tyranny which ill-directed zeal and lawless ambi-
tion, by all the arts of misrepresentation and delusion, are court-
ing tliem to submit to. I have the high satisfaction to tell you, Gen-
tlemen, that 1 have already received signal proofs of the loyalty and
duty of a great number of the good people of this Province, and I
have the fullest assurance that many more will follow their lauda-
ble example. These, Gentlemen, are favorable presages upon which
I congratulate you, and which I persuade myself your prudent con-
duct will improve to the honor and advantage of your country,
" The state of the Colonies is at this time the subject of the delib-
erations of the Grand Council of the Nation, from whose wisdom
and justice they have every thing to expect consistent with the
principles of the British Constitution, and the general welfare of
the empire, while they continue in the duty they owe to it. The
confessed generous character of Britain, and the magnanimity of
our most gracious Sovereign, who through the whole course of his
reign has uniformly made the happiness of his people the object of
all his views, and the rule of all his actions, ensures it to them.
On this great arbiter of British rights, it therefore becomes you to
rely with the fullest confidence, and to deserve, by a dutiful be-
haviour, its favorable regard. If a precedent could be wanting, as I
cannot suppose it is, to induce to such a right conduct, one of the
most respectable of the Colonies affords it to you, and you will see
without question, how highly improper it will be at such a conjunc-
ture, to countenance any measures of a contrary nature. If the
people of this Colony have any representations to make to the su-
preme powers of the State, you are the only legal and proper chan-
nel of their application, and through you they may be assured of
every attention to their dutiful petitions. You, Gentlemen, I dare
say, esteem too highly the rights of the people committed to
your guardianship, and know too well the limits of your own
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 165
power, to consign them to any other hands, that must not only be
disqualified to serve the people, but will infallibly divest you of that
dignity and consequence which belong to you, as their lawful rep-
resentatives.
" Let me hope, Gentlemen, that, laying aside all passion and pre-
judice, you will calmly and with one accord, pursue such a line of
conduct in these points of general concern to America, as may be
most likely to heal the unhappy differences now subsisting between
Great Britain and her Colonies. Consider how great an opportuni-
ty you now have to serve, — to save your country, to manifest
your loyalty to the best of Kings, and to demonstrate your attach-
ment to the British Constitution, — the most free, the most glorious,
and happiest political system in the whole world. If you consult,
but for a moment, your own interest and welfare, and the happiness
of this people, I cannot be disappointed in any hopes that you will
avail yourselves of the occasion. Be it your glory, Gentlemen, to
record to latest posterity, that, at a time when the monster sedition
dared to rear his impious head in America, the people of North Car-
olina, inspired with a just sense of their duty to their King and
country, and animated by the example of its Legislature, stood
among the foremost of His Majesty's subjects to resist his baneful
snares, and to repel the fell invader of their happiness. Thus, Gen-
tlemen, you may redeem your sinking country to posterity, — thus
you will acquire to yourselves immortal honor and renown ; while
a contrary conduct must inevitably plunge this once happy land in
horrors beyond all imagination ; whence nothing can recover it but
the generous hand of Britain, interposed to save you from your own
destruction. Thus, Gentlemen, I have set before you, upon princi-
ples of your duty to the Constitution, and the welfare of your coun-
try, the necessity of discouraging, to the utmost of your power, the
illegal meetings into which the innocent people have been betrayed,
and the unlawful establishments and appointments they have been
led to give their sanction to. I have also stated to you the more
especial obligation you lie under to prevent that meeting to which
the people have been invited to send deputies here at this time,
and I have fully admonished you of the ruinous consequences of a
different conduct. In addition to these powerful motives, Gentle-
men, I am authorized to say, that the unwarrantable measure of
appointing delegates to attend a Congress at Philadelphia, now in
agitation, will be highly offensive to the King, and this, I cannot
doubt, will be reason with you of the greatest force, to oppose so dan-
gerous a step.
166 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
" Your next attention, Gentlemen, is due to the particular state of
this country, that calls for your strictest regard.
" The exhausted state of the Public Treasury, — the large demands
upon it that remain unsatisfied, — the dues of public officers that are
unpaid, call loudly for your attention to the ill condition of Public
Credit, and the Finances of this country ; and I trust you will not
fail to pay that regard which is due to points of so great importance.
I heartily wish, with regard to matters of finance and mode of tax-
ation, as well as to the regiilation of the Treasury, to draw your
attention to the admirable system of New York and Maryland, in
which last colony public credit is established upon the firmest ba-
sis ; but the example of every other Colony with regard to the lat-
ter article, — I am sorry to say it, — is better than has been as yet
adopted here.
" You have now. Gentlemen, fair opportunity to restore to this
Province, by a law for the permanent establishment of Courts, that
great store of political blessings arising from a due and regular ad-
ministration of justice, of which I have long lamented to see it de-
prived. I have received His Majesty's determination upon the pro-
posed regulations with regard to proceedings by attachments, which
have been the apparent cause of this misfortune. This I shall com-
municate to you in the course of your session, and I hope it will
obviate all the difficulties that have occurred on this subject. When
the establishment of courts shall come under your consideration^
you cannot fail to see the necessity of making provision for the
judges, and the propriety of that provision being adequate and hon-
orable and suitable to officers of so high dignity and importance.
'' Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, —
«* I cannot doubt that you will see the same necessity for support-
ing the usual establishment of Fort Johnston, founded upon the
same principles of public utility, that have induced you to maintain
it during so long a series of years.
*' Gentlemen of His Majesty's Honorable Council,
'' Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, —
" I am sensible that the advanced season of the year requires your
attendance on your domestic affiiirs, and I shall therefore be glad to
find that your unanimity in the conduct of the very important busi-
ness you are now met upon, affords me opportunity to conclude you
speedily and happily. On my part, I do assure you, nothing shall be
WJinting to promote these good epdg. JO. MARTJN,
" A'eic Berne, 4lh April, 1775."
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 167
" On motion, Resolved, That Mr. Howe, Mr. Hooper, Mr. Johnston
Mr. Hewes, and Mr. Macknight, be appointed a Committee to pre-
pare an Address in answer to his Excellency the Governor's Speech
and report the same to this House for approbation, 6th April."
On Friday, the 7th of April, the House met according
to adjournment. Mr. Howe from the above Committee
reported- the following Address in answer.
To His Excellency Josiah Martin, Esq., Captain General, «^c. S^c.
Sir,
We, His Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the members
of the Assembly of North Carolina, have taken into consideration
your Excellency's Speech at the opening of this session. We met
in General Assembly, with minds superior to private dissension,
determined calmly, unitedly, and faithfully to discharge the sacred
trust reposed in us by our constituents. Actuated by sentiments
like these, it behooves us to declare that the Assembly of this
Colony have the highest sense of their allegiance to the King of
Great Britain, to whom alone, as our Constitutional Sovereign, we
acknowledge allegiance to be due, and to whom we so cheerfully
and repeatedly have sworn it, that to remind us of the oath was un-
necessary. This allegiance all past Assemblies have upon every
occasion amply expressed, and we, the present representatives of the
people, shall be always ready by our actions with pleasure to tes-
tify ; sensible, however, that the same Constitution which establish-
ed that allegiance, and enjoined the oath in consequence of it,
hath bound Majesty under as solemn obligations to protect subjects
inviolate in all their just rights and privileges, wisely intending by
reciprocal dependence to secure the happiness of both.
We contemplate with a degree of horror the unhappy state of
America, involved in the most embarrassing difficulties and distress-
es, by a number of unconstitutional invasions of their just rights and
privileges, by which the inhabitants of the Continent in general and
of this Province in particular, have been precipitated into measures,
extraordinary perhaps in their nature, but warranted by necessity;
from whence, among many other measures, the appointment of com-
mittees in the several counties and towns took its birth, to prevent,
as much as in them lay, the operation of such unconstitutional en-
croachments ; and the Assembly remains unconvinced of any steps
taken by those committees, but such as they were compelled to take
for that salutary purpose.
1(58 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
It is not to be controverted that His Majesty's subjects have a right
to petition for redress of grievances, or to remonstrate against them;
and, as it is only by a meeting of the people that their sense respect-
ing such petition and remonstrance can be obtained, that the right
of assembling is as undoubted ; to attempt, therefore, under the mask
of authority, to prevent or forbid a meeting of the people for such
purposes, or to interrupt their proceedings when met, would be a
vain effort unduly to exercise power in direct opposition to the Con-
stitution.
Far be it from us then, Sir, even to wish to prevent the operation
of the Convention now held in New Berne, or to agree with your
Excellency in bestowing upon them the injurious epithet of an ille-
gal meeting. They are. Sir, the respectable representatives of the
people, appointed for a special and important purpose ; to which,
though our constituents might have thought us adequate, yet, as our
meeting depended upon the pleasure of the Crown, they would have
been unwise to have trusted to so precarious a contingence, espe-
cially as the frequent and unexpected prorogation of the Assembly,
one of them in particular, as if all respect and attention to the con-
venience of their representatives had been lost, was proclaimed but
two or three days before the time which had been appointed for its
meeting, gave the people not the least reason to expect that their
Assembly would have been permitted to sit, till it was too late to ap-
point delegates to attend the Continental Congress at Philadelphia,
a measure which they joined the rest of America in thinking es-
sential to its interest.
The House, Sir, neither know nor believe that any base arts
have been practised upon the people, in order to lead them from
their duty ; but we know with certainty that the steps they have
taken, proceeded from a full conviction that the Parliament of Great
Britain had, by a variety of unconstitutional proceedings, made those
steps absolutely necessary. We think it therefore a duty we owe
the people to assert, that their conduct has not been owing to base
arts practised upon them by wicked and designing men, and have
it much to lament that your Excellency should add your sanction to
such groundless imputations ; as it has a manifest tendency to weaken
the influence which the united petition of His Majesty's American
subjects might otherwise have, upon their Sovereign, for the redress
of those grievances of which they so justly complain.
We should feel inexpressible concern at the information given us
by your Excellency, of your being authorized to say that the ap-
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 1(59
pointment of delegates to attend the Congress at Philadelphia, now
in agitation, will be highly offensive to the King, had we not re-
cently been informed from the best authority, that His Ptiajesty has
been pleased to receive very graciously the united petition of his
American subjects, addressed to him by the Continental delegates
lately convened at Philadelphia. We have not, therefore, the least
reason to suppose that a similar application to the Throne will give
offence to His Majesty, or prevent his receiving a petition for the
redress of grievances which his American subjects have a right to
present, either separately or unitedly.
«' We shall always receive with pleasure the information of any
marks of loyalty to the King given to your Excellency by the inhab-
itants of this Colony, but are greatly concerned lest the manner, in
which you have thought proper to convey that information, should
excite a belief, that a great number of the people of this Province
are disaffected to their Sovereign ; to prevent which it is incumbent
upon us, in this manner, solemnly to testify to the world, that His
Majesty has no subjects more faithful than the inhabitants of North
Carolina, or more ready, at the expense of their lives and fortunes,
to protect and support his person, crown, and dignity. If, however,
by the signal proofs your Excellency speaks of, you mean those ad-
dresses lately published in the North Carolina Gazette, and said to
be presented to you, the Assembly can receive no pleasure from
your congratulations thereupon, but what results from the considera-
tion, that so few have been found in so populous a Province, weak
enough to be seduced from their duty, and prevailed upon, "%
the base arts of wicked and designing men,'' to adopt principles so
contrary to the sense of all America, and so destructive of those
just rights and privileges it was their duty to maintain.
" We take this opportunity, Sir, the first that has been given us, to
express the warm attachment we have to our sister Colonies in gen-
eral, and the heartfelt compassion we entertain for the deplorable
state of the town of Boston in particular, and also to declare the
fixed and determined resolution of this Colony to unite with the
other Colonies in every effort to retain those just rights and liberties,
which, as subjects to a British King, we possess, and which it is our
absolute and indispensable duty to hand down to posterity, unim-
paired.
" The exhausted state of the public funds, of which your Excellency
complains, we contemplate with great concern; alleviated, however,
by the reflection that it has not been owing to any misconduct in
15
170 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
the Assembly. We were withlield from passing any Inferior Court
law, but upon such terms as our duty rendered it impossible to ac-
cept, by which means no list of taxables could be taken for the year
one thousand seven hundred and seventy-three, and consequently no
money collected to defray the charges of government for that year ;
and as your Excellency did not think proper to meet the Assembly at
their usual time of meeting in the fall, no act could be passed to de-
fray the expenses of the year one thousand seven hundred and seven-
ty-four. The treasury, by these means deprived of two years' col-
lection of taxes, must consequently be unable to answer the great
demands upon it, till an act of Assembly can be passed to enable it
to discharge them.
"The House, convinced of the necessity of Courts of Justice,
would willingly adopt any plan for the establishment of them, which
in their opinion is consistent with the circumstances of this Colony ;
and for independent Judges of capacity and integrity they would with
the greatest pleasure very liberally provide.
" We are sorry, Sir, the impoverished state of the public finances
will not permit us to provide for the usual establishment of Fort
Johnston.
" The advanced season of the year, which of all other times made
it most inconvenient for us to attend to public business, will, your
Excellency may assure yourself, induce us to forward it with all
possible expedition.
" JOHN HARVEY, Speaker.
" April 7th, 1775."
*' Resolved, That the House do highly approve of the proceedings of
the Continental Congress lately held at Philadelphia, and that they
are determined, as members of the community in general, that they
will strictly adhere to the said resolutions, and wiir use what in-
fluence they have, to induce the same observance in every individ-
ual of this Colony.
" This House having received information that William Hooper,
Joseph HeAves, and Richard Caswell, Esquires, were appointed by
the Convention held at New Berne, as delegates to attend the meet-
ing of the Continental Congress soon to be held at Philadelphia,
" Resolved, That the House approve of the choice made by the
said Convention.
" Resolved, That the thanks of the House be given to William
Hooper, Joseph Hewes, and Richard Caswell, Esquires, for the
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 171
faithful and judicious discharge of the important trust reposed in
them as delegates for this Colony at the late Continental Congress."
On the 8th of April the Assembly was dissolved by
Proclamation, and thus ceased for ever all legislative ac-
tion under the Royal government.
The two state-papers, which I have extracted so much
at length, are written with much force, and are far supe-
rior to the other public documents of that day in force of
language and decision of principles. I have often read
the latter of these two with both pride and pleasure, as
one of the best illustrations of the political creed of the
patriots of the revolution, and as a document every way
worthy of the distinguished name by which it is signed.
CHAPTER VI.
THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR MARTIN.
(continued.)
(1775.) After the dissolution of the Assembly, Gov-
ernor Martin found himself surrounded by only a few of
his most faithful councillors. The power of the Whig
leaders had reduced his government to this lank and lean
condition, and, without a military force to sustain it, its
total and speedy overthrow was inevitable. With his
Council Journal before me, I can accurately trace the signs
of a fatal decay, progressing rapidly to the last agony of
its existence on the 24th of April. On the 11th of that
month, the Governor advised with the Council as to
the expediency of issuing writs for the election of a new
Assembly ; but the councillors proposed to delay it '* until
the end of June." On the 12th, he laid before the
Council the proceedings of the Provincial Congress, signed
by John Harvey, wherein, to use his own language?
" were certain resolves highly derogatory to the honor and
dignity of His xMajesty's government, and utterly subver-
sive of the established constitution." He therefore submit-
ted to their consideration the propriety of expressing their
indignation at such unlawful and dangerous proceedings,
by striking Mr. John Harvey out of the commission of
peace for the county of Perquimons, to which proposition
the Council assented. On the 14th, he advised with them
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 173
as to the maintenance of Fort Johnston, and his authority
to do so was sustained by the voice of the Council. John
McNair and John Hogg were then appointed Justices of
the peace for the county of Orange, and the name of
Isaac Marion was corrected on the commission of the peace
for the county of Brunswick.
In the mean time His Excellency had been busily en-
gaged in endeavouring to fortify his palace and to raise a
military force among the Cross Creek Highlanders and
the Regulators, the latter of whom he terrified by a repre-
sentation that they were still liable to be punished for their
former rebellion. The people of New Berne watched
with much uneasiness the range of cannon planted before
the palace, and the committees of the adjacent counties, by
intercepting the emissaries of the Governor, gave them
intelligence of his efforts to raise a military body-guard.
Governor Martin, on the 16th of March, anticipating the
present state of affairs, had written to General Gage, at
Boston, soliciting a supply of ammunition and arms; and
by the vigilance of the delegation in the Continental Con-
gress this letter too had been intercepted, and was now
before the Whig authorities of New Berne. These hos-
tile preparations on the part of His Excellency provoked,
on the 24th of April, an open rupture between him and the
people. Alexander Gaston, Richard Cogdell, and other
leading Whigs on that day interposed, and, while the Gov-
ernor and Council were in session in the chamber of the
palace, forcibly seized and carried off the artillery which
had been planted for its defence. I shall extract the
account of the last Council session.
15*
174 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
" At a Council held at New Berne the 24th day of April, 1775,
Present, his Excellency the Governor,
"The C James Hascll, "^^^'"^'^^ '^°^^'^''^' ^ Esauires
Hon. I Samuel Strudwick, Samuel Cornell, 5 ^
" Ordered, a new connnission of peace for the county of Pitt,
wherein the names of John Simpson, Robert Salter, Robert Lanier,
Daniel Charles Forbes, Saxon Pearce, and Peter Reeves are to be
omitted." — Council Journal.
Such were the doings of the Governor and Council,
when they peiceived iVom the palace windows, the suc-
cessful incursions of the Whigs. The Council Journal
thus abruptly stops, and as abruptly terminates the record
of the Royal government of North Carolina. Governor
Martin apprehending further violence from the Whig
leaders, on the evening of the same day, fled from the
palace, and, accompanied by a few of his more faithful
councillors, retreated to Fort Johnston on the banks of the
Cape-Fear. In the course of his retreat, he visited the
house of Farquard Campbell, a Scotch gentleman of
Cumberland, who concealed his friendship for the Gov-
ernor under much apparent zeal in the American cause.
He was a powerful leader among the Highlanders, and,
during this visit of the Governor, gave him many assu-
rances of the loyalty of the Scotch population.
Governor Martin, however, did not find Fort Johnston
a much safer posiuon for his head-quarters, than the pal-
ace at New Berne. He relied upon the general coopera-
tion of the Scotch and the presence of the sloop-of-war
Cruiser, to maintain his authority and to awe the Whigs
into submission. The people of the Cape-Fear, how-
ever, were not to be intimidated by the compactness of
his Highland clans, or the guns of his ship of war. They
watched with vigilance the movements of His Excellency ;
GOVERNOR MARTIN. I75
and, detecting him in schemes of extensive fortifications,
and in an effort to encourage the slaves to arm against
their masters, they determined to disarm the fort and to
secure themselves from the future machinations of the
flying Governor. Colonel John Ashe stepped forward to
achieve this hazardous undertaking. He resigned his
commission of colonel of the militia of New Hanover,
which he held under the Royal government, and accepted
the same rank at the election of the people. Thus armed
with what he considered the proper authority, he collected
a body of troops, and on the 17th of July marched to-
wards Fort Johnston. Governor Martin, finding himself
thus rigorously pursued, removed his military stores, as
well as the head-quarters of his government, on board the
ship of war, and gave up the fort to the ravages of his
enemy. The flight of His Excellency from the palace at
New Berne, I have ventured to mark as the closing
scene of the Royal government. The election of John
Ashe, by the voice of the people, to the rank of colonel of
the militia, may be fairly designated as the first instance
of the acceptance of a military commission under the
authority of the people. That extraordinary man, who
seemed to seek the most conspicuous and dangerous post
in the service of his country, now led the way in the
career of revolution ; and, His Excellency being forced
from the shores of the Cape-Fear, the high-sounding
and insolent proclamations are no longer dated, " The Pal-
ace,^'' but " On board his Majesty's ship of war, Cruiser."
During the spring of the year 1775, the attention of all
the Colonies was directed towards Boston, a town which
seemed to be the object of the devoted vengeance of the
Ministry. I have illustrated the feelings and sympathies
J -(5 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
of the people of North Carolina, on the distresses of that
town, by various extracts from the Journal of the Pro-
vincial Congress. Individual opinions may be adduced to
justify the resolves of the Congress, and to show the ex-
tent of the sympathetic cord of union and brotherly love,
that stretched across the Thirteen Colonies. At several
detached meetings of the people of IMecklenburg in the
spring of the year 1775, the universal voice of the people
seemed to be, " that the cause of Boston was the cause of
all ; that their destinies were indissolubly connected with
those of their Eastern fellow-citizens, and that they must
either submit to all the impositions which an unprincipled,
and to them an unrepresentative Parliament, might impose,
or support their brethren, who were doomed to sustain
the first shock of that power, which, if successful there,
would ultimately overwhelm all in the common calamity."
— Raleigh Register, April 30, 1819.
Out of these feelings and opinions grew the IMecklen-
burg Declaration of Independence, an event which will be
noticed here only as one of the deeds of the people of the
Province during the year 1775. The Convention, which
assembled in Charlotte on the 19th of May, and which
declared independence on the succeeding 20th, w^as con-
voked by Thomas Polk, who afterwards performed the
duty of a herald in the proclamation of its proceedings.
The subject of independence was discussed during the
two days of its session, and was at last unanimously
declared. The news of the battle of Lexington arrived
by express during the session of the Convention, and, this
intelligence inflaming the minds of the people, the univer-
sal voice v/as for independence. The Declaration was
embraced in a series of resolves, which were signed by
GOVERNOR MARTIN. I77
Abraham Alexander, Chairman, and John McKnitt Alex-
ander, Clerk ; and thus were forwarded to Philadelphia
by Captain James Jack, whose certificate will be exhibited
in the Second Part of this volume. I shall in the course
of the present chapter introduce a Proclamation of Gov-
ernor Martin's, dated on the 8th of August, 1775, in which
the Mecklenburg Convention is denounced, and this state-
paper, written and published at the time, incontestably
establishes the authenticity of the Mecklenburg Declara-
tion of Independence.
While these scenes were acting in the western seclion
of the Province, the people of the east were engaged in
schemes, though not so important, yet equally as violent.
The committee of Wilmington, in some of their published
resolves, openly accused the Governor of attempting an
insurrection among the slaves, and charged him with being
an enemy to the country and the Province, and forbade
all persons from any intercourse with the floating head-
quarters of his government. The charge of attempting a
slave insurrection may be supported by other circum-
stances, than those connected with his efforts in the vicinity
of the ship Cruiser, A slave of Thomas Respiss, of
Bath, disclosed to his master a well-concerted scheme of
insurrection, which had been engendered by the wicked
agency of a Yankee Captain by the name of Johnston,*
who had visited North Carolina in a traffic for naval
stores, and who seemed to think it not inconsistent with
the duties of an honest trader, to reap the benefit of his
skill either in a bargain or a general massacre. These con-
curring events induced Governor Martin, who saw the
evil tendency of such impressions on the strength of his
* Letter of Mr. Respiss, and Martin's History, Volume. II. p. 353.
J 78 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
Scotch party, to undertake a defence ; and accordingly, in
a letter to Lewis Henry De Rossett, dated on the 24th of
June, he declared he had never entertained such a thought,
and " that nothing could justify such a measure but the ac-
tual and designed rebellion of the King's subjects, and the
failure of all other means to maintain his government."
The committee of Wilmington on the receipt of this letter
repeated their denunciation of Martin as an enemy to
the country, and enjoined it on all the good people to
regard him as such, and to refrain from all communica-
tion with him or any of his abettors. The committee of
New Berne, too, came to similar resolutions, and strictly
prohibited all persons from removing from Core Sound,
or any other place where the Governor might be, under
the heaviest penalties. Such was the vigilance of these
committees in guarding the interest and prosperity of the
country, and which, it will be seen, so much excited the
rage of His Excellency, in the Proclamation which will be
presently exhibited.
The flame kindled at the batde of Lexington con-
tinued to rage through North Carolina, and, one month
after the Mecklenburg Declaration, appears as the induce-
ment of the celebrated Cumberland association. These
associations prevailed throughout the Province during the
year 1775, and were usually signed by the people of the
county in which they were instituted. They fully attest
the patriotism of the people of North Carolina, and will
be extracted in these pages to support the admission
of Mr. Jefferson, that " no State was more fixed or
forward."
" The Association, June 20, 1775.
" The actual commencement of hostilities against the continent
by the British Troops, in the bloody scene on the 19th of April last,
near Boston, the increase of arbitrary impositions from a wicked
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 179
and despotic Ministry, and the dread of instigated insurrections in
the colonies, are causes sufficient to drive an oppressed people to
the use of arms. We therefore, the subscribers of Cumberland
county, holding ourselves bound by that most sacred of all obliga-
tions, the duty of good citizens towards an injured country, and
thoroughly convinced that, under our distressed circumstances, we
shall be justified in resisting force by force, do unite ourselves un-
der every tie of religion and honor, and associate as a band in her
defence against every foe, hereby solemnly engaging, that, when-
ever our Continental or Provincial Councils shall decree it necessary,
we will go forth, and be ready to sacrifice our lives and fortunes,
to secure her freedom and safety. This obligation to continue in
full force, until a reconciliation shall take place between Great Brit-
ain and America, upon constitutional principles, an event we most
ardently desire ; and we will hold all those persons inimical to the
liberty of the Colonies, who shall refuse to subscribe to this associa-
tion ; and we will, in all things, follow the advice of our general
committee respecting the purposes aforesaid, the preservation of
peace, and good order, and the safety of individual and private
property." *
This paper is the composition of Robert Rowan,
whose name is first on a long list of signatures. It is a
spirited production, and, on the subject of the great
American principle, inferior only to the Mecklenburg
Declaration, The people of North Carolina were not
addicted to an extravagant exercise of the prudence and
caution of disguised patriotism. They did not stand
back and await the crisis of the contest. Convinced of
the justice of their cause, they fully committed them-
selves in the very beginning of the struggle, and bound
themselves, whenever their Continental or Provincial
Councils should decree it necessary, to go forth and sacri-
fice their lives and fortunes for the freedom of the country.
• The copy of this Association was found among the papers of
Rowan, and the same is now in the possession of Major T. I. Robe-
son of Cumberland County.
ISO THE ADMINISTRATION OF
The Continental Congress had assembled in Philadel-
phia on the 10th of jMay, and it was during the session
of this Congress, on the 14lh of June, that George
Washington was elected Commander-in-chief of the for-
ces of the United Colonies. The important nature of its
proceedings, as well as the flight of Governor Martin, in-
duced the political leaders to undertake the organization
of a form of government; and accordingly, on the 10th
of July, a general order or letter was issued from Eden-
ton, die residence of Samuel Johnston, and now the
head-quarters of the Whig party. The death of John
Harvey, which took place on the 3d of June (I believe),
was deeply deplored throughout the colony ; and I find
it mentioned in many of the private letters of that day,
in terms of the deepest and most sincere regret. Mr.
Hewes in a letter to Mr. Johnston, dated on the 8th of July,
1775, says, " Since my last, by IMr. Underbill, I am fa-
vored with yours of the 11 th of June. The death of our
old friend, Colonel Harvey, has given me real uneasiness.
He will be much missed. 1 wish to God he could have
been spared, and that the Governor and Judge Howard
had been called in his stead." The Provincial Congress
had requested Sam.uel Johnston, in the event of the death
of Colonel Harvey, to assemble a new convention ; and
accordingly, the following general request was issued.
'To the Committee of ' Tryon' County.
" Edenton, 10th July, 1775.
" Gentlemen",
" In pursuance of the trust which devolves on me bj the much
lamented death of our late worthy Moderator, I am to request the
favor of you to summon the Freeholders of the county of Tryon,
to meet at such convenient time and place as you may appoint, to
choose and elect proper persons to serve as Delegates in a Pro-
GOVERNOR MARTIN. ]8l
vincial Convention, to be held at Hillsborougli, on the twenti-
eth day of August next; and as affairs of the last importance to
this province will be submitted to their deliberation, 1 would re-
commend that the number of Delegates for each county should not
be less than five.
" lam, with great respect, gentlemen,
your most obedient servant.
''SAMUEL JOHNSTON."
In the progress of the election in Tryon, the views
and principles of the people of that county were de-
veloped in the adoption of an Association, which was
submitted to the inhabitants, as a test of patriotism. It
was adopted and signed by the county committee, on
the I4th of August, and ordered to " be signed by each
and every freeholder of the county of Tryon." Jt was
discovered during the last year, among the papers of
General William Graham of Rutherford, and was first
published in the " North Carolina Spectator " of May the
1 Ith. I here extract it, as a paper highly illustrative of
the Whig principles of the day, as well as of the sympa-
thy of North Carolina with the distresses of the people
of Boston.
"AN ASSOCIATION.
*'The unprecedented, barbarous, and bloody actions, committed by
the British Troops on our American brethren, near Boston, on the
19th of April and 20th of May last, together with the hostile opera-
tions and treacherous designs now carrying on, by the tools of Min-
isterial vengeance and despotism, for the subjugating all British
America, suggest to us the painful necessity of having recourse to
arms, for the preservation of those rights and liberties, which the
principles of our Constitution and the laws of God, nature, and na-
tions have made it our duty to defend. We, therefore, the subscri-
bers, freeholders and inhabitants of Tryon County, do hereby faith-
fully unite ourselves under the most sacred ties of religion, honor,
and love to our country, firmly to resist force by force, in defence of
our natural freedom and constitutional rights against all invasions ;
16
182 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
and, at the same time, do solemnly engage to take up arms, and risk
our lives and fortunes in maintaining the freedom of our country,
whenever the wisdom and counsel of the Continental Congress, or
our Provincial Convention, shall declare it necessary ; and this en-
gagement we will continue in and hold sacred, till a reconciliation
shall take place between Great Britain and America on constitutional
principles, which we most ardently desire ; and we do firmly agree
to hold all such persons inimical to the liberties of America, who
shall refuse to subscribe to this association.
" Signed by —
John Walker, Charles McLcaa. Andrcio JVeel, Thomas Beatty, James
Coliurn, Frederick HamhrigJit, Andrctc Hampton, Benjamin Har-
din, George Pearis, William Graham, Robert Kcandey, David Jenk-
ins, Thomas Espey, Perygren Mackncss, James McAfee, William
Thomason, Jacob Forny, Davis Whiteside, John Becman, John
Morris, Joseph Harden, John Robinson, Valentine Mauny, George
Blacke, James Logan, James Baird, Christan Carpinter, Abel Beat-
ty, Joab Turner, Jonathan Price, James Miller^ Peter Sedes, William
Wliiteside, John Dellinger, George Dellinger, Samuel Karhcnder,
Jacob Mooney, Jr., John Wells, Jacob Castner, Robert Hulclip, James
Buckhanan, Moses Moore, Joseph Kuykendall, Adam Sims, Richard
Waffer, Samuel Smith, Joseph Keel, Samuel Lofton."
I shall now introduce the Proclarncntion of Governor Mar-
tin, dated on board the Sloop of war Cruiser, which, as
I have before stated, will be found to sustain the truth of
the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. The
angry tone of this document, and the many proceedings
of the Whigs which it details and censures, is the best evi-
dence of their industry and zeal, and I incorporate it into
my narrative as a singular record of many of the im-
portant events of the year 1775. It seems to have been
more immediately provoked by the circular letter of
Samuel Johnston, requesting the election of Deputies to
the Provincial Congress ; and His Excellency embraced
the occasion to denounce " the evil, pernicious, and trai-
torous councils of the well known leaders." A copy of
it was sent by the Governor to the Moderator of the Con-
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 183
gress, which was laid before that body at Hillsboroughj and
this same copy I found among the papers of Mr. Johnston.
When it was laid befoie the Congress, it was
*' Resolved unanimously ; That the said paper is a false, scandalous,
scurrilous, malicious, and seditious libel; tending to disunite the
good people of this Province, and to stir up tumults and insurrec-
tions, dangerous to the peace of His Majesty's government, and
the safety of the inhabitants, and highly injurious to the character
of several gentlemen of acknowledged virtue and loyalty, — and
further, that the said paper be burnt by the common hangman."
This latter oixler was never executed. The style and
language of the resolution of the Congress corresponded
with that of the Proclamation, in the vehemence of its
censure and denunciation.
*' Js'orth Carolina ss.
^' By His Excellency Josiah Martin, Esq., His Majesty's Captain Gene-
ral, Governor, and Commander-in-chief in and over the said Prov-
ince,
« A PROCLAMATION.
*^ Whereas I have seen a publication in the Cape Fear Mercury,
which appears to be proceedings of a general meeting of people,
styling themselves Committees of the district of Wilmington, signed
' Ricliard Quince, Senior, Chairman,' in which the well known and
incontestable facts set forth in my Proclamation, bearing date the
16th day of June last, are most daringly and impudently contra-
dicted, and the basest and most scandalous falsehoods are asserted,
evidently calculated to impose upon and mislead the people of this
Province, and to alienate their affections from His Majesty and his
governments, and concluding, in the true spirit of licentiousness
and maligniLy. tiiat characterizes the productions of these seditious
combinations, with a Resolve declaring me an enemy to the in-
terests of this Province in particular, and of America in general,
an impotent and stale device, that the malice and falsehood of these
unprincipled censors have suggested, and which is their last con-
temptible artifice, constantly resorted to and employed to calumniate
and traduce every man in every rank and station of life, who op-
poses their infamous and traitorous proceedings :
184 THE ADMlNISTRATIOiN OF
'' And whereas by the evil, pernicious, and traitorous councils, and
influence of the well known leaders of these seditious Committees, a
body of men was assembled in arms at Wilmington, on the IGth or
17th day of July last, for the purpose, as was professed in a letter
sent me on the night of the 18th of the same month (signed The
People), by a certain John Ashe (who presumed insidiously to
employ the more respectable name of the people, to cover his own
flagitious designs), of removing the King's artillery from Fort
Johnston, under pretence of preserving and securing the same for
the use and service of His Majesty ; and prefacing this declaration
with sundry complaints of violence and misbehaviour on the part
of John Collet, Esq., Governor and Captain of the said Fort John-
ston, many of which it was in my power, and would have been my
duty to have redressed if they had been represented to me ; which
letter, signed The People,! thought it proper to answer, and to
dissuade the deluded multitude from involving themselves in the
criminal enterprise of removing the King's artillery, which had
been dismounted by my authority, and not by Captain Collet's, as
had been pretended in order to deceive tlie people into a violence
so dangerous and unwarrantable j and I am to lament that my said
letter in answer to The People produced no other or better eff*ect
than to prevent the execution of their criminal intention of remov-
ing the King's artillery, which was all that their letter to me
avowed ; — and that they proceeded, under the lead of the said John
Ashe and other evil-minded conspirators against the peace and
welfare of this Province, to the said Fort Johnston, and wantonly
in the dead hour of the night set on fire and reduced to ashes the
houses and buildings within His Majesty's said fort, that had been
evacuated and disarmed and was entirely defenceless ; — and that
they returned next day, and completed before my face the destruc-
tion of the wooden defences of the fort to which the fire of the night
had not extended, burning the houses and desolating every thing
in tlie neighbourhood of the place, with a degree of wanton bar-
barity that would disgrace human nature in the most savage state,
and was an overt act of high treason against His Majesty, which
justified my immediate vengeance, restrained by pity for the innocent;
misguided, and deluded people, whom I considered as the blind in-
struments of their atrocious leaders ; who, defeated in the still more fla-
gitious designs they meditated (of which I have the fullest evidence),
and already involved in guilt of the blackest die themselves, it
might be presumed, urged on the people to every enormity that
GOVERNOR MARTIN. 185
might make them appear principals in their own treasons instead of
blind instruments thereof, and by extending the guilt among many,
screen themselves from the penalties which they had wantonly
incurred ; — nothing doubting at the same time that cool and sober
reflection would jusUy turn the resentment and indignation of the
people against the wicked contrivers and promoters of the violences,
into which they had been betrayed to the disgrace of their country
and humanity ; and that they would expiate their own guilt by
delivering up their leaders to receive the condign punishment that
the laws inflict on such atrocious offenders ; — but having seen
with astonishment a publication in the Cape Fear Mercury of the
26th day of last month, in which a set of people, styling themselves
a Committee for the town of Wilmington and county of New
Hanover, have, to obviate the just effects that I expected from the
return of reason and reflection to the people, most falsely, sedi-
tiously, and traitorously asserted, ' that Captain Collet was, under
my auspices, preparing Fort Johnston for the reception of a pre-
sumed reinforcement, which was to be employed in reducing the
good people of this Province to a slavish submission to the will of
a wicked and tyrannic minister, and for this diabolical purpose had
collected several abandoned profligates, whose crimes had rendered
them unworthy civil society,' &c., intending, by various false pre-
tences therein set forth, to justify the enormities into which they
had plunged the innocent people ; who, I am confident, were for
the most part strangers to all the ostensible motives to the outrages
they were hurried on to commit, and which, according to the ac-
knowledgments of this despicable seditious meeting, had no better
foundation than resentment to Captain Collet, an individual,
whose off"ences the law's power, and that which I derive from
His Majesty, were competent to correct in a legal way ; — and seeing
that the said Committee, as it is called, have artfully by insidious
compliments and flattery, and by their contemptible applause of
the outrages and violences perpetrated in and about Fort Johnston,
endeavoured to reconcile the minds of the people to treason and
rebellion, in order to avert from their own heads the just wrath,
with which a due sense of those crimes would naturally in-
spire the people against the infamous persons, who had basely
betrayed them into offences of so dangerous and heinous a nature :
" And whereas I have also seen a most infamous publication in
the Cape Fear Mercury, importing to be resolves of a set of people
styling themselves a Committee for the County of Mecklenburg,
16*
13(j THE ADMlNISTRATIOiN OF
most traitorously declaring the entire dissolution of the laws,
government, and constitution of tliis country, and setting up a
system of rule and regulation repugnant to the laws and sub-
versive of His Majesty's government ; and another publication
in the said Cape Fear Mercury of the 14lh of last month, addressed,
' To the Committees of the several Towns and Counties of North
Carolina appointed for the purpose of carrying into execution the
resolves of the Continental Congress,' bearing date at Philadelphia,
June l!Hh, 1775, and signed William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, and
Richard Caswell ; the preposterous enormity of which cannot be
adequately described and abhorred. It marks the assembly, from
whose members it comes, to be the genuine source of those foul
streams of sedition, which, through the channels of committees
have overflowed this once happy land, and at this moment threaten
it with every species of misery, ruin, and destruction. This pub-
lication begins with a recital of the most unparalleled falsehoods
that ever disgraced a sheet of paper ; witness the infamous misrep-
resentation of the affair of Lexington, (which must be also wilful,)
and the notoriously false position, that Britain cannot support her
navy without the aid of North Carolina commodities, calculated
to gull the people into a surrender of all the benefits of commerce,
to the idle and absurd speculations and decrees of the effectlessly
omnipotent Congress at Philadelphia. It proceeds, from these
false and infamous assertions and forgeries, to excite the people of
North Carolina to usurp the prerogatives of the Crown, by forming
a militia and appointing officers thereto, and finally, to take up arms
ao-ainst the King and his government, impudently reprehending the
people of this Colony for their inactivity in treason and rebellion ; —
and concluding the most contradictory, insidious, and nonsensical
jargon of exhortation to the people, affronting to and inconsistent
with reason and common sense, to exert themselves for the pre-
servation of Britain, to strengthen the hands of civil government,
to nreserve the liberty of the Constitution, to look up to the reign-
incr monarch of Britain as their lawful and rightful sovereign, and
to dare every difficulty and danger, in support of his person, crown,
and dignity ; after monstrously, in the same breath, urging the peo-
ple to the distress and ruin of Britain, to the subversion of all
civil government, to open rebellion against the King and his
authority ; and in the most pointed terms prompting them to arms
and resistance ; thus insidiously attempting to reconcile allegiance
and revolt, and inviting the people to actual rebellion under the
GOVERNOR MARTIN. I37
mask and guise and profession of duty and respect; a shallow
concealment of horrid treason, that I have no doubt every honest
man will explode and treat with its merited contempt and abhor-
rence ; while no man can wonder at the absurdity of this address,
as it must invariably attend every like attempt to reconcile things
in reason and nature inconsistent. The treasonable proceedings
of an infamous committee at New Berne at the head of a body of
armed men in seizing and carrying off six pieces of artillery, the
property of the King, that lay behind the palace at that place ;
repeated insults and violences offered to His Majesty's subjects by
these little tyrannical and arbitrary combinations, and among others
to some of my own servants, who have been stopped, when em-
ployed on my own business, and forcibly detained and searched ;
the unremitted assiduity of those engineers of sedition to sow dis-
content and disaffection, and the base artifices they employ to
alienate and prejudice the minds of His Majesty's subjects by con-
fidently and traitorously propagating the most base, scandalous, mon-
strous falsehoods of the King's religious and political principles, and
of ill designs of His Majesty's ministers ; daring thus to defame and
traduce even the sacred character of the best of princes, whose emi-
nent and distinguished virtues by universal acknowledgment irra-
diate, with unexampled lustre, his imperial diadem; and whose
piety and strict and inviolable regard to the happy Constitution
of his kingdoms in Church and State, and to the welfare and happi-
ness of all his people, stand confessed and admired throughout the
world, and confound and reprobate the infamous, traitorous, and
flagitious falsehood and forgeries, to which faction hath, upon every
occasion, resorted, to prop and support the most unprincipled and
unnatural rebellion, that was ever excited in any part of the
world upon which the light of civilization had once dawned ; —
the dangerous, unconstitutional, and illegal measure, to which the
people are invited by an advertisement I have seen, signed ' Samuel
Johnston,' of electing Delegates to meet in Convention on the
20thinst.,at Hillsborough, that is subversive of the whole Consti-
tution of this country, and evidently calculated to seduce and
alienate His Majesty's faithful and loyal subjects in the interior
and western counties of this Province ; whose steadfast duty to
their King and Country hath hitherto resisted all the black
artifices of falsehood, sedition, and treason, and hath already, on my
representation, received the King's most gracious approbation and
acceptance ; which I am authorized and have now the high satisfac-
jgg THE ADMINISTRATION OF
tion to sio-nify to His Majesty's subjects throughout this Province
and particularly to those in the counties of Dobbs, Cumberland,
Anson, Orange, GuilfofcJ. Chatham, Rowan, and Surry, who have
given me more especial and public testimonials of ti)eir loyalty,
fidelity, and duty, and to give them assurance of His Majesty's
most firm support ; which I am confident will not only confirm the
good dispositions of this faithful people, and streoglhen them to
bafile and defeat every effort of sedition and treason, but prompt
them also to resist their first approaches by wilhsLanding the now
meditated insidious attempt of the intended provincial Convention
to steal in upon them the spirit, and erect among them the standard
of rebellion, under the cloak and pretence of meeting for solemn
deliberation on the public welfare ; — and I have no doubt that they
will convince the traitorous contrivers and abetters of this plot, of
the vainness of their treacherous devices to sow sedition and dis-
affection in that land of loyalty, by indignantly spurning from them
the said intended Congress or Provincial Convention, and not suf-
fering its corrupted breath to pollute the air of their country, now
the pure region of good faith and incorruptible loyalty, to whose
virtuous inhabitants, I trust, is yet reserved the glorious achieve-
ment of crushing unnatural rebellion, of delivering their country
from lawless power and wide-spreading anarchy ; of restoring and
preserving in it the free and happy constitution of Britain, with all
that train of envied rights and blessings, which belong to that great
and admired system of true and genuine liberty, now most alarm-
ingly threatened with overthrow, by rebellious, republican, and
tyrannical factions throughout America.
" To the end, therefore, that the people of this Province at large
may be acquainted with the enormities, violences, and disorders
herein before recited, which manifestly tend to the destruction of
their peace and welfare, and to the utter subversion of His Majes-
ty's government, and the laws and constitution of this Country ;
and that I may faithfully discharge my duty to the King and his
Majesty's people in this Province (whose welfare and prosperity
have ever been my constant study), and in order fully to forewarn
the people of the dangers and calamities to which the men, who
have set themselves up for leaders in sedition and treason, are court-
incT them, to support them in their flagitious enormities, or to screen
themselves from the penalties to which they know they are become
liable, by extending their crime among numbers of their innocent
fellow subjects, for whom I have every tender feeling of pity and
GOVERNOR MARTIN. ] Sg
compassion and forgiveness ; I have thought it proper to issue this
Proclamation, hereby to exhort His Majesty's subjects, the people
of this Province, as they tender the invaluable rights and privi-
leges of British subjects, that they seriously reflect upon and con-
sider the outrages and violences, into which the innocent inhabitants
of many parts of this Province and in the counties of Duplin, New-
Hanover, Craven, and Brunswick, in particular, have been betrayed
by seditioiTs artifices of certain traitorous persons who have pre-
sumed to take the lead among them ; and to attend to the obvious
and ruinous consequences of following the wicked and flagitious
councils of men, who, intent only upon romantic schemes and their
own mistaken interest and aggrandizement, are cajoling the people,
by the most false assertions and insinuations of oppression on the
part of His Majesty and his government, to become instruments to
their base views of establishing themselves in tyranny over them,
treacherously aiming, by specious pretences of regard to their
rights and liberties (that have never been invaded or intended to be
invaded), to delude the people to work their own destruction, in
order to gratify for a moment their own lust of power and lawless
ambition ; that would undoubtedly carry them, if they could pos-
sibly succeed, to reduce the people, upon whom they now call and
rely for support in their criminal designs, to the most slavish sub-
mission to that very arbitrary power, to which they would now
climb upon the shoulders and by the assistance of the people.
" Let the people but consider coolly and dispassionately the cause
in ■which their infamous leaders would engage them, they will see
it, from the beginning of the discontents in America, founded in
erroneous principles, and to this day supported by every art of false-
hood and misrepresentation ; their best colored and most specious
arguments, fraught with sophistry and illusion, have shrunk back from
the light of truth, and vanished, confounded of right reason : yet
still unabashed, the tools of sedition have impudently and unremit-
tingly imposed falsehood upon falsehood on the innocent people, ex-
travagantly profaning even the most sacred name of the Almighty
to promote their flagitious purpose of exciting rebellion, until they
have shaken the allegiance and duty of great numbers and actually
involved some of the people in the most horrid crimes against their
sovereign and the laws and constitution of their country. And I do
hereby most especially admonish His Majesty's faithful subjects in
this Colony, that the holding what is called a Provincial convention,
at Hillsborough, in the heart of this Province, is calculated to extend
190 THE ADMINISTRATION OF
more widely the traitorous and rebellious designs of the enemies of
His Majesty and his government and the constitution of this Pro-
vince } and particularly to influence, intimidate, and seduce His
Majesty's faithful and loyal subjects in that neighbouihood from
tlieir duty to their King and Country, which they have hitherto
so faithfully maintained ; for the furtheiance of which purposes, a
certain Richard Caswell, one of the three persons deputed by a former
illegal Convention in this Colony to attend a Congress no less illegal
at Philadelphia, is sent an emissary from that Assembly that bath al-
ready denounced ruin and destruction to America, to forward and
superintend this meeting at Hillsborough, and lo inflame it with
the fatal example of said Philadelphia Congress; apart which he
has entered upon with the most active zeal, after having often de-
clared h s principles averse to the cause in which he is engaged,
thus exhibiting himself to the world a monstrous engine of double
treason against his own conscience, his King, and country. And
whereas 1 consider this a most open and daring attempt to stir up
unnatural rebellion in this Colony against His Majesty and his gov-
vernment, I do hereby advise, forewarn, and exhort all his Majesty's
subjects within this Province to forbear making any choice of dele-
gates to represent (hem in the proposed Convention at Hillsborough,
as they would avoid the guilt of giving sanction to an illegal as-
sembly, acting upon principles subversive of the happy Constitution
of their country, and that they, hij every means in their poiccr, oppose
that dangerous and unconstitutional assembly, and resist its baneful
influence. And whereas, in order to encourage the people to pro-
ceed in the treasons to which they have been blindly influenced
and misled by the persons, who have set themselves up for leaders
among them, it has been represented, in order to inflame and ren-
der the people desperate, that they have offended past forgiveness,
and that, having no mercy to hope from the King, their better
chance is to prosecute their treasons to open rebellion and resistance
of His Majesty and his government; I think it proper, in tenderness
and pity to the poor, misguided multitude, and to obviate this abomi-
nable design of engaging them more deeply in transgression, hereby to
offer, promise, and declare to all, each, and every of them. His Majesty's
most gracious pardon for all violences done and committed to the date
hereof, on their return to their duty to the King and obedience to latcful
government, and renouncing their seditious and treasonable jyroceed'
ings : and I hereby offer ample rewai'd and recompense to the peoples
or any of them, who shall yield and deliver up to me the feic principal
GOVERNOR MARTIN. jgj
persons icho seduced them to the treasonable outrages herein Icfore
mentioned, to he dealt icith according to laic.
" And whereas the people in many places have been seduced to the
choice and appointment of military officers among themselves,
which is an usurpation and invasion of his Majesty's just and law-
ful prerogative, and whereas no person whatever is entitled to hold,
exercise, or enjoy any commission or authority over the militia of
this Colony, but such as are commissioned by His flfajesty or his
Governor of this Province, and whereas a certain John Ashe,
herein before named, who lately resigned to me his commission of
colonel in the militia of the County of New Hanover, has presumed
to influence and conduct a body of armed men of the said county
and of other adjacent counties to the most daring and treasonable
outrages, and a certain Robert Howes, alias Howe, hath also pre-
sumed, without commission from me or any lawful authority, to
take upon himself the style and title of Colonel, and to advertise
and summon the militia of the County of Brunswick to meet in
order to be trained to arms ; I do hereby forewarn the people
against any and every such election of officers to which they are or
may be invited, and caution them against any obedience and regard
to any persons who have been or may be so appointed and chosen^
hereby declaring every such election illegal, unconstitutional, and
null and void to all intents and purposes ; and that the said John
Ashe and Robert Howes, alias Hoice, before mentioned, and both of
them, and every other person and persons, icho hath .or have presumed
to array the militia and to assemble men in arms icithin this Province,
without any commission or authority, have invaded His Majesty's just
royal ])rerogative and violated the laics of their country, to which
they will he ansicer able for the same.
" And whereas it is out of doubt that a majority of the people of
this Colony, left to follow the impulses of their own hearts and un-
derstanding, are loyal and faithful subjects to His Majesty and true
and firm friends to the constitution and laws of their country; and
whereas it appears that the assembling a convention at Hillsborough
tcill bring the affairs of this country to a crisis, which icill make it
necessary for every man to assert his principles, — / do hereby conjure
the good people of this Province, as they tender and regard the blessings
of British subjects, that they do firmly persist and persevere in their
duty and allegiance to His Majesty, hereby assuring them in the King's
nam.e and by His Majesty' s authority, of his firm and determined resolu-
tion to maintain his faithful subjects in the full and free enjoyment of all
192 GOVERNOR MARTIN.
their religious and civil rights, liberties, find privileges, and of His
Mdjcsfifs utmost encouragement to them in the defence and support
thereof against all enemies, rebels, and traitors zchatsoevcr. And I do
hereby strictly require and command all His Majesty's justices of
the peace, sheriffs, and other officers, and all His Majesty's liege
subjects to exert themselves in the discovery of all seditions, trea-
sons, and traitorous conspiracies, and in bringing to justice the princi-
pals and accomplices therein ; and I do further strictly enjoin them
to give all and all manner of aid, countenance, assistance, and
protection to all His Majesty's loyal and faithful people. And all
persons are hereby required to take notice and govern themselves
accordingly.
" Given under my hand and the great seal of the said Province,
on board His Majesty's ship Cruiser, in Cape Fear River,
this 8th day of August, anno Domini 1775, and in the loth
year of His Majesty's reign.
" God save the King.
(Signed) "JO. MARTIN.
" By His Excellency's command,
J. Bt.ggleston, D. Secretary."
This proclamation is the dying effort of Governor Mar-
tin, and it is almost as long, and quite as furious, as a certain
other proclamation of a more recent date. It does am-
ple justice to the Whig leaders, who are so vehemently
denounced, and is at the present time valuable only as an
historical document establishing the truth of the Mecklen-
burg Declaration of Independence.
CHAPTER VII,
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
The furious proclamation of Governor Martin was of
no avail ; and on the 20th of August, 1775, the members
of the Provincial Congress, in accordance with the sum-
mons of Samuel Johnston, assembled in Hillsborough.
On the 2 1st, the members convened in the church, and at
the nomination of Richard Caswell, Samuel Johnston was
chosen President, Andrew Knox, Secretary, James Glas-
gow, Assistant, and Francis Lynaugh and Evan Swann,
Door-keepers. In those days, there lived in the town of
Hillsborough, a divine, by the name of George Mecklejohn,
a high churchman in his religion, and a high Tory in his
politics. The Congress, for the want of a more suitable
chaplain, adopted this unwilling minister, and he was ac-
cordingly introduced by Colonel Francis Nash, and then
" he opened the Congress by reading prayers." On the
same day, the conduct of John Coulson, an individual of
considerable influence in the county of Anson, was dis-
cussed, and a numerous committee, headed by Samuel
Spencer, appointed to report upon his offences. On the
next day, the committee reported through Mr. Harnett
the following confession.
<« I, John Coulson, do from the fullest conviction solemnly and
sincerely declare, that 1 have been pursuing measures destructive
17
194 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
of the liberties of America in general, and highly injurious to the
peace of this Colony; and, truly conscious of the heinousness of my
guilt, do now publicly confess the same, and do solemnly and sin-
cerely promise, that I will for the future support and defend, to the
utmost of my power, the constitutional rights and liberties of Amer-
ica; and, in order to make atonement for my past guilt, that I
will make use of every effort in my power to reclaim those per-
sons whom I have seduced from their duty, and also to induce all
other persons over whom I have influence to aid, support, and de-
fend the just rights of America. In witness whereof, I have here-
unto set my hand, this the 22d day of August, 1775.
" JOHN COULSON."
I have given this confession in full as a sample of
many others of a similar character, which are to be found
in the proceedings of the Provincial Congresses. The
alternative to confess and submit, or to go to prison, was
invariably presented to all apprehended Tories ; and this
penitential confession of Mr. Coulson was not more de-
grading than many others, which were extorted from the
guilty timidity of the loyalists.
One of the most important objects, which the Congress
seemed to have in view, was the reconciliation of the
Regulators, and the satisfaction of the Highland clans of
Cumberland. The lenity of Governor Martin towards
the former, and his intrigues with the Scotch, were now
rewarded with the support of these two parties ; and all
the endeavours of the Whigs to win them from his confi-
dence and interest were exhausted, and exhausted in
vain. The Congress by a formal resolution contradicted the
report that the Regulators were still amenable to punish-
ment, and declared that they should be protected by
every means, from any injury to their persons or property.
A numerous committee was appointed to confer " with
such of the inhabitants as might entertain any religious or
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 195
political scruples, with respect to associating with the
common cause of America." But all these efforts were
unavailing. The Highland clans, whh many honorable
exceptions however, continued their devotion to the Roy-
al cause, and many even of the Regulators forgot the
glory of '' the Sons of Liberty " and the principles of
their murdered ancestors. The Highlanders contrived to
keep not only in the Whig party, but even in the Provin-
cial Congress, many of their coadjutors, who disguised
their loyalty under excessive zeal in the American cause ;
and the proceedings of this very Convention v^^ere
adorned by the genius of Farquard Campbell, a high
Tory, but a gentleman of wealth, education, and, I have
heard, of rank. I shall anticipate the career of this man,
to illustrate the character of a disguised Tory, a common
hero in the history of every country, and one, which is
as frequently the- result of prudence as of vice and trea-
son.
Farquard Campbell was a member of a previous
Congress, and passed the many ordeals or tests which the
vigilance of the Whig committee instituted, and before
which my readers may remember a Mr. Macknight of
Currituck shrunk, and gave up the American cause.
When this Congress assembled, however, the fact, that
Farquard had been visited by Governor Martin on his
flight from the palace, was well known ; and now we
observe the jealousy of the Whigs aroused, by the receipt
of a letter from Mr. Biggleston, the Governor's Secre-
tary, asking the favor of the Congress, to give safe con-
duct to His Excellency's coach and horses, to the house
of Farquard Campbell in Cumberland. On the receipt
of this letter, the President laid it before the Congress
196 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
and Farquard rose in bis seat and " said lie was amazed
that Mr. Bigglestone should have made such a pro-
posal without his privity or consent, and implored the
House not to permit such a disposition of the coach and
horses." On this positive disclaimer, a resolution was
passed acquitting him of the accusations of the Governor
and his party, and declaring their conviction of his hon-
esty of purpose, and of his devotion to the American
cause. The character of Farquard, however, never re-
covered from this shock, and, although he continued by
these positive assurances to postpone the day of retribu-
tion, yet the revolution of a year will disclose his down-
fall, and with it the fate and character of his country-
men. He signed the test submitted to the members of
this Congress, and, on the 12th of April, 1776, voted to
authorize the delegates in the Continental Congress to
declare independence. He took every stand in favor of
the American cause, except a military commission, and
was generally among the leading members of the Con-
gress in debates and common committees. Slill Far-
quard was an object of suspicion, and was strictly and
jealously watched. I see by the letters of Judge John
Williams ^ that he was suspected of a secret correspon-
dence with Governor Martin, during the whole time of
his service in the Provincial Congress, and that the hope
of the Whigs, to operate through him on the Highlanders,
was the principal reason of their toleration. As the Amer-
ican cause advanced, however, his part became more
difficult to act ; and after the national Declaration of Inde-
pendence, and the consequent reorganization of the Whig
* Letter of Judge Williams to William Johnston, January 10th,
1777,
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. I97
party, his fale was fixed. He was seized by Colonel
Ebenezer Folsome at his own house, while entertaining a
party of Highland Royalists, and borne off to Halifax to
be tried. This took place during the fall of 1776; and
thus closed the political life of Farquard Campbell. He
is mentioned in the Confiscation of 1777, for the last time
in the Revolutionary annals of the State. The charac-
ter of tliis man lost all its dignity in a vain and heardess
effort to evade that decision, which he was, as a citizen of
the State, bound to make with promptness and sincerity.
Not that the character of a loyalist is so odious, when
the prejudices of birth operate to make him so ; but the
circumstance, that he was ashamed of his real opinion,
is the best evidence of profligacy of principle in private
as well as public life.
With all their violence the Whig leaders were yet
prudent politicians, and during the session of this Congress
they left no effort untried, to carry along with them the
unanimous voice of the people. They not only appointed
spirited and well selected committees, to confer with and
explain to the people the nature of the controversy with
the mother country, and to advise and urge them to de-
fend those rights which they derived from God and the
Constitution ; but, in their public resolutions and other
state-papers, they avoided any expressions calculated to
offend the feelings of the loyalists, and of course to
render a more perfect union impossible. The Test sub-
mitted to the members on the 23d of August, and which
was signed by the whole Congress, could not have re-
ceived the hearty assent of either a violent Whig or an
independent Tory ; and accordingly we find the names of
Thomas Polk, Samuel Johnston, and other Whigs at-
17*
198
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
tached to the same political creed widi diat of Farquard
Campbell. They professed allegiance to the King, but
denied his authority to impose taxes, and swore to sup-
port the Whig authorities of the Continental and Provin-
cial Congress. The Tory in the sincerity of his heart
may have responded only to the profession of allegiance,
and the Whig may have reciprocated the duplicity of
his conduct, by an exclusive prayer for the great Amer-
ican cause. The toleration of Farquard Campbell, the
mild nature of the Test, and every other effort at con-
ciliation but postponed the crisis. The calamity of a civil
and intestine war, which had been invoked by the wicked
genius of the routed Governor, could not be averted, either
by the expostulations of friendship, or the solemn obliga-
tions of social, kindred, and national ties.
On the 24th of August the Congress declared unani-
mously, that the people of North Carolina would pay
their due proportion of the expense incurred in training
a Continental army, and connected both with this and
its preamble w^as a resolution appointing
The President Richard Kennon, Dempsy Burgess,
(Samuel Johnston), Thomas Gray, Robert Salter,
William Hooper, Henry Irwin, Matthew Locke,
Joseph Hewes, John Penn,
Richard Caswell, Alexander Martin,
Samuel Spencer, Joseph Hancock,
Thomas Respiss, Matthias Brickie,
Walter Gibson, John Webb,
William Gray, William Bryant,
Robert Howe, Thomas Polk,
Thomas Eaton, Whitwell Hill,
James Coor, Samuel Ashe,
John Easton, Allen Jones,
James White, Henry Rhodes,
Thomas Jones, Thomas Burke,
Joseph Williams,
Peter Wynn,
William Kennon,
Joel Lane,
William Brown,
James Davis,
Archibald Maclaine,
Maurice Moore,
James Hepburn,
Willie Jones,
Francis Nash, and
Hugh Montgomery,
Alexander McAllister, Benjamin Harvey,
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 199
a committee to prepare a plan for the regulation of the
internal peace, order, and safety of the Province.*
To this important committee was entrusted the duty
of proposing a system of government, which would sup-
ply the want of an executive officer arising from the
absence of Governor Martin, and of submitting other sub-
ordinate plans of government ; such as the institution
of committees of safety, the definition of the powers of
all committees, the qualification of all electors, the mode
to be observed in calling Conventions or Congresses, " and
every other civil power necessary to be formed in order
to relieve the Province in the present unhappy state, to
which the administration has reduced it."
It was the most important committee ever yet ap-
pointed by popular authority, and achieved one of the
most difficult and trying ends of the Revolution. It sub-
stituted a regular government, resting entirely on popular
authority, for that of the Royal government, and annihi-
lated every vestige of the power of Josiah Martin. Noth-
ing but the idle and vain theory of Allegiance to the
Throne was left, to remind the people of the recent origin
of their power ; and even this solitary star of the Kingly
government was dimmed by the bright and rapid ascen-
sion of the renown of Washington.
It is difficult to give a succinct account of the com-
plicated scheme of government, which this committee re-
commended, and this Congress adopted. The county
committees, which had been in existence not quite a year,
had grown too powerful to be quietly abrogated ; and ac-
cordingly the Congress had to be content with the regu-
* I quote the dates in the text from the MS. Journal of the
proceedings of the Congress.
200 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
lation of their numbers, a definition of their powers, and
the erection of two higher autlioriiies. The violence,
imprudence, and sometimes the inhumanity of some of
these county committees, had disgusted many of the Whig
leaders, who were really disposed to use gender argu-
ments than tar and feathers, in endeavouring to convert the
loyalists ; and accordingly we find, in the new scheme of
government, all their decisions are submitted to the adju-
dication of two superior departments. The Provincial
Council was now the Supreme Executive of the govern-
ment, during the recess of the Congress, and consisted of
thirteen members, two from each of the six military dis-
tricts, nominated by the delegates of the district, and
elected by the Congress, and one elected for the Province
at large. This body had the authority of issuing military
commissions, of filling vacancies, and of granting certifi-
cates, which were ordered to run in the following form.
" JVorth Carolina, in Provincial Council, day of 1775.
" This is to certify that was appointed
in the regiment of foot,
of the American army of this Province, commanded by Colonel
this, the day of 1775."
Immediately subordinate to the Provincial Council, were
the District Committees of Safety, which consisted of
thirteen, and these too were nominated by the delegates
of each district, and elected finally by the Congress.
Under the immediate control of the Council, this body had
the power to direct the operations of the militia, and such
other forces as might be employed for the defence of the
Province within their jurisdiction, to receive information,
and censure and punish delinquents, either In the first in-
stance, or as a superintending power over the town and
county committees.
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 201
The next order of government was the town and
county committees, and the only alteration made in their
arrangements, was the qualification of a freehold for the
members, and the limitation of their number to twenty-one.
There were now a Provincial Council of thirteen, six com-
mittees of safety of thirteen each, thirty-six county com-
mittees of twenty-one each, three town committees of
fifteen each, and six borough committees of seven, mak-
ing an aggregate of nine hundred and thirty-four civil
officers, vested with power by the authority of the people.
To the supreme direction and control of the military
establishment, entrusted by the Congress to the Provin-
cial Council, was added the wholesome and salutary power
of a veto on the popular election of officers. This pre-
rogative was conferred, to frustrate the designs of the
Highlanders and other Tories, who, in their respective
counties, had elected officers of a doubtful character ; and
without some such general power in one of the Whig de-
partments of the government, the integrity, even of the
military establishment, might have been sullied. In the
county of Cumberland, for instance, the officers of inde-
pendent companies, as well as committee-men, must have
been, in a general election upon the principle of universal
suffi'age, elected from the Highland clans ; as the Scotch
population outnumbered every other class, and voted to-
gether on all occasions. How common is it in North
Carolina, where the right of suffi-age is still in one depart-
ment of the government restricted, to hear it said, that the
people at large achieved the liberty of the state, and that
therefore universal suffi-age ought to prevail ! But if the
proceedings of the Convention or Congress will be admitted
as evidence, it will be found that the freeholders were not
202 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
only the principal operatives in the Revolution, but that they
were exceedingly jealous of the integrity of those, who
had not an interest in the soil. In forming the system of
government, which I am now discussing, they absolutely
disfranchised a large class of voters, whose weight had
been felt in the Royal government, by leaving out the
word " inhabitants," ^ and using only that of " freehold-
ers," in the clause regulating elections. The original
Whig party of North Carolina comprised the wealth, the
virtue, and the intelligence of the Province ; and from
this source alone, moved the Revolution. The restriction
of the right of suffrage materially assisted the Whig party
of Cumberland, by throwing out of the polls the poor
and unmanageable herd of Highlanders, who were gene-
rally guided by some wealthy Tory of their clan ; and the
prospect of this benefit was undoubtedly one of the princi-
pal inducements to its rigorous adoption. There was,
however, one exception to this rule. In the counties of
Bute, Granville, Wake, Chatham, Orange, Guilford, Row-
an, Surry, and INIecklenburg, in which the lands of Lord
Granville were situated, all householders, who had improv-
ed lands in possession, except such as held lands by lease
for years, or at will from or under any freeholder, were
enfranchised and placed on an equality with the freehold-
ers of other counties. Thus cautious were the founders
of our civil liberties, in guarding and preserving the dignity
of the polls.
As this is the last occasion I shall have in the course of
* Under the Royal government, a large class of people voted,
who were not freeholders, under the name of " inhabitants " ; and
one of the charges against Governor Dobbs, in 17G0, was the exten-
sion of the right of suffrage.
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 203
this volume, to notice the county committees, I shall here
describe them somewhat in detail, and endeavour to illus-
trate Incidentally the scheme of the new government. The
vehement and ridiculous Proclamation of Governor Mar-
tin denounced them, as " the genuine sources of sedi-
tion ; " and if the word " sedition " alluded to the suc-
cessful resistance of the people to His Excellency's meas-
ures, the compliment was well bestowed, and well deserv-
ed. They were appointed in North Carolina, for the first
time, in October, 1774; and, although the Provincial
Congress had recommended the number five, I find that
in many of the counties the advice was not respected, and
a larger number of the most respectable freeholders were
elected on the county committee. In Bute, the recom-
mendation of Benjamin Ward to select one from each
kin was adopted ; and nearly every gentleman, of any note,
now living in any of the counties, originally included in
Old Bute, is a descendant of one of these founders of our
Revolution, In that county there were no Tories, except-
ing a few vagrant Scotch merchants or traders ; and even
the number of suspected Whigs was so small, that, before
the heat of the contest came on, the people were as nearly
unanimous as a community can be.
The freeholders, the only electors in the Province,
voted for a general ticket of twenty-one ; and the elected
committee-men assembled on the first day of the County
Court, and organized by the appointment of a chairman
and a clerk. The third Tuesday of October was the
general day of election for members of Congress, commit-
tee-men, and all other officers ; and, with the adoption of
this rule, the number of members of Congress from each
county was limited to five. When the committee pro-
204 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
ceedeil to business, it acted on parliamentary rules, and
questions of the greatest importance were frequently de-
bated with ability and decorum. Before these petty par-
liaments, were brought by force all Tories and suspected
persons ; and, although Congress had especially forbidden
the infliction of corporal punishment, the common remedy
of the whipping-post was esteemed, in many instances,
justifiable and highly indispensable. They exercised,
rigidly, a political censorship, and did not hesitate to sub-
ject to the penance of a dungeon, all persons convicted of
disrespectful language towards the American cause. Orders
were issued to ravage the estates of the most violent and
obnoxious Tories, and appropriate the plunder to the com-
mon treasury. But against this warfare of the Whigs, the
loyalists were prepared to wage an equally well regulated
system of rapine and plunder. The Tories of Cumber-
land, superior to the Whigs in number, committed depre-
dations on their estates, and carried off from their fields
the slaves and catde of the plantations. But they wanted
the regular organization of their adversaries, and the en-
thusiasm of an injured but free people, to make the con-
test equal or doubtful.
The county committee held four regular sessions dur-
ing the year ; but from the great facility of collecting
together, and the general disposition for consultation for
the general good, during times of danger and distress,
they were in the habit of meeting at short notices, for the
transaction of any urgent business. They executed all or-
ders from the Council and Committee of Safety, attended
to the observance of the Continental association, and all
the resolves, orders, and directions of the Provincial and
Continental Congress. They exercised a judicial author-
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 205
ity, in the arrest of debtors, who were suspected of an in-
tention to abscond, and denied justice to all, who should
dare to commence an action at law, without their especial
permission. These high powers, some of which, such as
the latter, were actually entrusted to them by the Congress,
were generally used as means of favor to the Whigs, and of
distress and punishment to the Loyalists. The advancement
of the great American cause, and not justice, was the motto
of the county committees ; and in all their adjudications,
either on the rights of persons or of property, a refusal to
repeat and subscribe the test, was the best evidence of
guilt or wrong. They elected out of their number seven
members, to act as a committee of secrecy, intelligence,
and observation, and authorized them to correspond with
tlie Council, committees of safety, and committees of the
neighbouring colonies. To this committee they gave the
power of arresting all Tories and suspected persons, and
to punish them or send them up to the Council or Com-
mittee of Safety for further trial.
The county committee not unfrequently usurped the
powers of the county court, and subjected the gravity and
reason of the law to the control of the popular will.
This conflicting jurisdiction, however, did not " uproot the
foundations of civil society," as predicted by Governor
Martin ; for the notable Esquires of the court were gene-
rally the leading members of the county committees.
They esteemed it their highest duty to serve the American
cause, and proclaimed, by their conduct, that they thought
the subscription to the test a higher and more solemn ob-
ligation, than the oath of allegiance, or of duty, as an
Esquire.
18
206 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
The committees, as I have before said, had been in
existence for nearly a year, before the adoption of the
system I have here described. The Congress, proceed-
ing to the election of a Provincial Council, made choice
of the following members.
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
Samuel Johnston, Province at large.
Cornelius Harnett, ) Wilmington
Samuel Ashe, j District.
Thomas Jones, ) Edenton
Whitmell Hill, \ District.
Abner Nash, > JVew Berne
James Coor, ) District.
Thomas Person, > Hillsboro'
John Kinchin, 5 District.
Willie Jones, > Halifax
Thomas Eaton, J District,
Samuel Spencer, ^ Salisbury
Waightstill Avery, 5 District.
I now propose to say a few words on the characters of the
individual members of this Council, excepting those whom
I noticed in my sketches of the first Provincial Congress.
The characters of Samuel Johnston, Thomas Person,
Thomas Jones, and Willie Jones were there briefly notic-
ed ; and, observing this Council as, at this period, the high-
est and most efficient authority in the Province, the curi-
osity of the reader may be aroused to know something of
them, as private as well ns public men.
Cornelius Harnett, " the Samuel Adams of North Caro-
lina," was distinguished as a gentleman of great acquire-
ments as a scholar, as well as a citizen of great weahh and
usefulness. He heartily espoused the cause of his coun-
try, in the very commencement of her difficulties, and
sacrificed, in her cause, his vast fortune and his life. He
was elected the President of the Council by the voice of
its members, and in this capacity he served the common
cause with great fidelity, during the existence of that
body. The office of President of the Council was the
most arduous and dangerous post, to which a citizen could
be called, and, representing the executive officer of gov-
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 207
ernment, was exposed to all the abuse and insolence of
the proclamations of the British authorities. The great
energy of his character, however, supported him through
the difficuhies of his station, and gave him the confidence
and love of his countrymen.
Some years previous to the breaking out of the war,
there existed on the Cape Fear an association, or club of
gendemen, well disposed towards the American cause ;
and among its leading members was Harnett, who coope-
rated with John Ashe, in all his schemes of resistance.
To this junto we are indebted for many of the most emi-
nent Whigs of that section of the State, who studied, as it
were, under their guidance ; and from the high compli-
ment to Harnett, by Mr, Quincy, we may conclude he
was considered at its head, during the year 1773. His
reputation, as a Whig leader, had not been confined to the
Cape Fear, or even to the Province ; and one of the first
steps of the British General Clinton, on his arrival in
North Carolina during the spring of 1776, was by a pub-
lic proclamation to except him, together with Robert Howe,
out of the benefit of a general pardon. In the course of
his service to his country, he fell into the hands of the
enemy, and died in captivity.
Samuel Ashe, the other member of the Council for the
Wilmington district, was an early and efficient Whig,
and, like his brother, John Ashe, a native North Caroli-
nian, and a gentleman of high and elegant breeding. It is
the most pleasing duty I have to perform in the composi-
tion of this work, to celebrate the characters of such men,
and to illustrate the dignity of the history of the State, by
an exhibition of the patriotic services of eminent nadve
citizens. The two brothers, John and Samuel Ashe,
208 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
are fair subjects for the pen of eulogy, and I shall trespass
on the patience of the reader by a short notice of their
family, of their characters, and of the services of Samuel
Ashe. If called upon to point to her treasures, North
Carolina may borrow from the same mother two of her
brightest jewels for such an exhibition, and proudly wake
up from her slumber, to assume the station and rank,
which the founders of her liberty originally gave her.
John Babtista Ashe, the founder of the family in North
Carolina, was the friend of the Earl of Craven, one of the
Lords Proprietors of the Province, and on that account
perhaps visited the shores of the new world. He is ob-
served as distinguished in the political history of the Prov-
ince about the year 1727 ; and his name is sometimes
found attached to the old statutes under the proprietary
government. I am not able to date the exact period of
his arrival in North Carolina ; but the banks of the Cape
Fear have been distinguished, for more than a hundred
years, as the residence of the family. He was one of
the leading men of his day, and remarkable for the supe-
rior accomplishments of a liberal education.
His two sons, John and Samuel Ashe, inherited the
high and distinguishing qualities of their father, and
came into life at a period when the passions of their coun-
trymen were aroused in the ardent pursuit of liberty and
national independence. In the midst of political convul-
sions, individuals distinguished for energy and decision of
character, for patriotism and private worth, and for hered-
itary respectability of character, rise up naturally superior
to the mass around them. A virtuous people will gather
around them, and seek the counsels of their better judg-
ment, and confer upon them the honors of power, as the
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 209
surest means of public safety. The recollection of the tal-
ents and virtues of the father inspires a deeper veneration
and contributes to nerve the mind of the hero, as well as to
animate the bosom of the people. I have noted the election
of John Ashe as Speaker of the popular House in 1764
and 1765, and have celebrated his conduct during the ex"
citement of the Stamp Act. The proclamation of Governor
Martin is the best evidence of the vehemence of his zeal,
in the earliest period of the war ; and the sacking or burn-
ing of Fort Johnston, a military movement but a few
months subsequent to the battle of Lexington, fully attests
his personal intrepidity. When I survey the various and
trying services he rendered the cause of his country, at
the darkest period of its political existence, the many
deeds of valor which he himself accomplished, and the
heavy responsibilities which he assumed, I cannot refrain
from pronouncing him the most chivalrous hero of our
revolution. Quick and sensitive in his feelings, and ar-
dently attached to the cause and the hope of national
freedom, while others stood watching the probable issue
of the contest, he struck the blow or applied the match,
and with himself carried his countrymen, on the stormy
field of intestine and foreign war. In the course of the
war, he was betrayed into the hands of the enemy by his
confidential servant ; and, after a long and rigid confine-
ment, was seized with the small-pox, and then discharged
on parole. With a constitution, shattered by hardship and
disease, he returned to his family, and died shortly after-
wards, at the house of Colonel John Sampson of Samp-
son county.
The character of Samuel Ashe differed from that of
his brother, more in the absence of a violent enthusiasm
18*
210 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
than in any other quality. He is not found so often in
the heat and management of the battle, as in the council
chamber, and excelled his brother, in the public estima-
tion, as a politician. Though not so much of a warrior,
yet he was the better statesman ; and, in the various civil
stations which he filled during his life, he acquired the
high reputation which he left behind him. At this early
period of our history, we find him elected one of the
Provincial Council, the highest civil authority in the Prov-
ince ; and in the succeeding spring, when that body was
dissolved and a Provincial Council of Safety instituted, he
was again elected to a seat in the highest branch of the
new government. He was not, however, entirely without
distinction in the military operations of the State. In the
apprehension of Tories, one of the most hazardous spe-
cies of warfare, he acquired great reputation as a bold
and vigilant Whig ; and I find by the journal of the Coun-
cil of Safety, that he contrived by menaces and persua-
sions to convert many of the Loyalists of Bladen to the
Whig interest. In this, however, the character of the
politician may have done more than that of the warrior.
The glory of a statesman is to achieve his end by the
gentle means of counsel and conciliation, and to leave to
the General the service and honor of his country, when
these noble means shall have failed. Samuel Ashe, how-
ever, gave to the military service of the State two of her
bravest and most efficient officers, in the persons of his
two sons, Colonels John Babtista and Samuel Ashe. The
former, the elder of the two, entered the army as Cap-
tain in Colonel Alexander Lillington's regiment, on the
17th of April, 1776, and continued in actual service
throughout the war. He commanded a division of North
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 211
Carolina troops, at the battle of Eutaw Springs, and at this
period of his service I find him enjoying the rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel. The younger son, the present Colonel
Samuel Ashe of Cape Fear, entered the army at the age
of seventeen, as a Lieutenant in the spring of the year
1779. In April, 1780, he joined the army at Charleston,
and was made a prisoner on the capture of that city in the
month of May of that year. He was subjected to a
long and painful captivity of nearly fifteen months, and
was then shipped with his companions to old Jamestown
in Virginia, where they were exchanged and ordered to
join General Lafayette. He remained but a short time
with him before he was attached to the army of General
Greene, in which he continued until the termination of the
war. 1 have not esteemed these few remarks inapplicable
to the character of Samual Ashe, the member of the
Council. To have contributed two such sons to the sup-
port of his country, and to have been himself one of the
first movers of the war of Independence, is the lot of
but few of the heroes in that struggle. In the course
of his eventful life, Samuel Ashe filled the highest office
of the State under the present Constitution, and died in
the full enjoyment of the confidence and love of the
people, whom he had so long and so faithfully served.*
* The Ashe family contributed more to the success of the Revo-
lution than any other in the State. Colonel John Ashe's second
son, Captain Samuel Ashe, served two campaigns in the Northern
States, with the rank of Captain in the Light Horse ; and, although
he resigned this commission, yet he continued to serve in the mili-
tia expeditions of the State during the war. So that there were
five officers of that family, all actively engaged in the war. General
John Ashe, and his son Captain Samuel Ashe, Governor Samuel
Ashe, and his sons, Colonels John Babtista and Samuel Ashe. If I
212 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
Whitmell Hill, one of the members of the Council for
the Edenton District, was an accomplished and well-bred
gentleman, as well as an early and ardent supporter of
the American cause. On the dissolution of the Council
he still retained his popularity, and was elected one of the
Council of Safety. After the organization of the govern-
ment under the present Constitution, he was elected a
member of the Senate, and, in 1778, was chosen one of
the members of the Continental Congress, a station which
he filled with great honor to himself for the space of three
years. Tradition is my only authority in the description
of his character; — high-minded and honest as a public
servant, amiable and affectionate in his domestic relations,
a hospitable gentleman, and an uncompromising and zeal-
ous Whig. An extensive posterity at this time supports
the honor and credit of his name.
Abner Nash, of the New Berne District, was likewise
one of the old stock of gentlemen, as well as a zealous
Whig. He resided on the Pembroke estate in the vicinity
of New Berne, and was celebrated for the elegance and
frankness of his hospitality. He was elected first Speak-
er of the Senate under the Constitution, and, after the
expiration of Caswell's term, Governor of the State.
In 1781, however, he was defeated in a contest for that
office by Thomas Burke, one of the most energetic and
vigilant men of that day. The cause of Burke's oppo-
sition was the disordered state of the public finances,
which, he alleged, grew out of the carelessness of the exe-
cutive. The character of Abner Nash, however, was not
could go at length into a detailed history of the war, these names
would again occur often and honorably towards its close j but my
narrative will only reach the 4th of July, 1776.
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 213
tarnished by the defeat. He may have lost the reputa-
tion of a skilful financier ; but the purity of his political
character was never suspected. In 1782, immediately
after his defeat, he was elected a member of Congress,
by the Assembly of the State, and in this capacity he
served his country faithfully and honorably for four years.
Associated with him as a member of the Council was
James Coor, a bold and efficient Whig, who served the
State with great fidelity, in every situation in which he
was placed.
Thomas Eaton of the Halifax District was a gentleman
of large fortune and extensive popularity, and, as such,
carried into the Council much weight and consideration.
In the course of the war he rose to the rank of a gene-
ral of the militia, and experienced much service in its
conduct, both as a civil and military officer. A numerous
and respectable posterity is not the least benefit a patriot
can bestow on his country ; and for this, the memory of
General Eaton deserves to be cherished, as a faithful
public servant.
John Kinchen, who was the associate of Thomas Per-
son for the Hillsborough District, was a genuine Whig, and
one who shrunk from no duty, however perilous, to which
he was called. He was one of those bold spirits, who
volunteered to perform the most hazardous deeds, and
who contributed the actual service of his body to the good
of the state.
Waightstill Avery and Samuel Spencer, of the Salis-
bury District, were two of the earliest and most decided
Whigs of the State. They were both lawyers and men
of an ardent temperament of mind. The former was a
signer of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence,
and will be noUced in the second part of this volume ; the
214
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
latter was distinguished afterwards as a Judge, and as one
of the ablest opponents of the adoption of the Constitu-
tion of the United States.
I have exhausted the patience of the reader, by the
tediousness of my details of the principles of the Whig
government. The Congress, which I left in session, to
discuss the new Whig government, must still be neglected,
to make room for at least the names of the members of
the District Committees of Safety.
Wilmington District.
Frederick Jones. William Gray. Alexander McAllister.
Sampson Mosely. Henry Rhodes.
Archibald Madeline. Thomas Routledge.
Richard Quince.
Thomas Davis.
Luke Sumner.
William Gray.
John Johnston.
Thomas Benbury.
Gideon Lamb.
William Taylor.
Joseph Taylor.
Samuel Smith.
John Atkinson.
John Buttler.
Alexander Gaston.
Richard Cogdell.
John Easton.
Major Groom.
Roger Ormond.
Griffith Rutherford.
John Brevard.
James Kenan.
Edenton District.
Joseph Jones.
Miles Harvey.
Laurence Baker.
Kennith McKenzie.
George Mylne.
John Smith.
Benjamin Stone.
Stevens Lee.
Charles Blount.
Isaac Gregory.
Day Ridley.
Hillsborough District.
William Johnston. Ambrose Ramsay,
John Hinton. Mial Scurloch.
Joel Lane. John Thompson.
Michael Rogers. John Lark.
JVew Berne District.
Edward Salter. Benjamin Williams.
George Burrow.
William Thompson.
William Tisdale.
Salisbury District.
John Crawford.
Richard Ellis.
William Brown.
James Glasgow.
James Auld.
Hezekiah Alexander. Benjamin Patten.
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 215
William Hill. Charles Galloway. Robert Ewert.
John Hamilton. William Dent. Maxwell Chambers.
Halifax District.
Allen Jones. William Eaton. William Haywood.
Rev. Henry Patillo. Drury Lee. Duncan Lamon.
James Leslie. John Norwood. William Bellamy.
John Bradford. James Mills. John Webb.
David Sumner.
A mere record of their names is the only tribute, which
time and space will permit me to pay to the memory of
the members of the Committees of Safety. They have
left but few records behind them, to attest their industry or
zeal, as a body ; but the proceedings of the Council, which
I shall presently notice, will sufficiently illustrate the na-
ture of their proceedings. I observe among them the
ancestors of many of our worthiest and most distinguished
citizens. The names of Richard Cogdell and Alexan-
der Gaston, * of New Berne, are still cherished by their
descendants, and their reputation is siill sustained by two of
the most learned and eloquent Jurists f of the State. The
* Alexander Gaston was shot by a party of Tories, in the year
1781, as he was leaving in a boat one of the wharves of New Berne.
The circumstances of his death were most distressing, being killed,
as it were, in the very presence of his family. He was a good and
brave man, and died in the defence of that cause, of which his son
is still an ardent and eloquent supporter. Richard Cogdell too was
shot at by the Tories, or British soldiers, while standing in his door,
and the same door, pierced by the ball of the musket, is still swinging
on its hinges, in the house of Wright Stanly, Esquire, of New Berne.
The reader will also observe the name of John Buttler on the list
of the Hillsborough Committee. He was one of the outlawed Regu-
lators, and adhering to the principles of his party, had now become
an outlawed IFhig. He was one of the Captains of Husband, at the
Battle of Allemance, and his example alone is a sufficient vindication
of the integrity of the Regulation.
t William Gaston and George E. Badger, Esquires.
216 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
late John Stanly, so celebrated for his great dexterity as an
advocate at the bar, and as a debater in Congress, and in
the legislature of the State, was the grandson of Richard
Cogdell. Mr. Stanly was indeed a most extraordinary
nian ; — the generous and hospitable friend, the brave, en-
thusiastic, and eloquent defender of North Carolina, the
high-minded, honest, and independent politician ;
— , " the best of the good ; —
So simple in heart, so sublime in the rest,
With all that Demosthenes wanted, endued^
His victor or rival in all he possessed,"
CHAPTER VIII.
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
(continued.)
In resuming the discussion of the proceedings of the
Provincial Congress, 1 shall invite the attention of the
reader to the military organization of the Province, which
was one of the most important duties performed by that
body, and the strictness of which is no indifferent testi-
mony to the character of the people of North Carolina.
When this convention adjourned, every military officer
was appointed, and a thorough discipline instituted, and
ordered, for the goveriiment and direction of the array.
This was in September, 1775. Truly " no State was
more fixed or forward."
On the 1 st of September, the Congress took into con-
sideration the arrangement of the military troops ordered
in the Province, as part of, and on the same establish-
ment with, the Continental army, and the appointment of
officers to command the said troops. They divided the
army thus proposed to be raised into two regiments, con-
sisting of five hundred men, and ordered that four hundred
of the first regiment should be stationed in the District of
Wilmington, and that the remaining one hundred of the first,
and the whole of the second regiment, should be equally
distributed, to the Districts of New Berne, Salisbury, and
Edenton.*
* Journal of the Congress, printed, p. 17. MS. date September 5.
19
218
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
Proceeding to tlie elecllon of ofHcers, they chose
following gentlemen.
Officers of the First Regiment.
James Moore, Colonel. Thomas Clark, Major.
Francis Nash, Lt.-Colonel. William Williams, Adjutant.
Captains.
William Picket.
Robert Rowan.
John Walker.
the
William Davis.
Thomas Allen.
Alfred Moore.
Caleb Grainger.
Henry Dickson.
George Davidson.
William Green.
John Lillington.
Joshua Bowman.
Laurence Thompson.
Thomas Hogg.
Neill McAllister.
Maurice Moore, Jr.
John Taylor.
Howell Tatum.
Lieutenants.
William Berryhill.
Hector McNeill.
Absalom Tatum.
Ensigns.
James Childs.
Henry Niell.
Berryman Turner.
Hezekiah Rice.
William Brandon.
William Hill.
George Graham.
Robert Rolston.
Henry Pope.
Officers of the Second Regiment.
Robert Howe, Colonel. John Patten, Major.
Alexander Martin, Lt.-Colonel. Dr. John White, 1st Capt. ^ Adj.
James Blount.
Hardy Murphrey.
Simon Bright.
John Grainger.
Clement Hall.
William Fenner.
Benjamin Williams.
Henry Vipon.
Captains.
John Armstrong.
Henry Irvin Toole.
Michael Payne.
Lieutenants.
Robert Smith.
Edward Vail, Jr.
John Williams.
Ensigns.
Whitmell Pugh.
Charles Crawford.
Nathan Keais,
John Walker.
John Herritage.
Joseph Tate.
James Gee.
John Oliver.
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 219
Philip Low. William Gardner. Benjamin Cleveland.
James Cook. William Caswell. Joseph Clinch.
John Woodhouse.
Dr. Isaac Guion, Chirurgeon to the First Regiment.
Dr. William Partun, Chirurgeon to the Second.
But independent of these two regiments, which consti-
tuted but a small portion of the military force of the Prov-
ince, the Congress ordered the enlistment of six battalions
of minute-men (one for each of the Districts), each battal-
ion to consist of two companies of fifty men, and the field-
officers to be recommended by the members from the
several districts, and to be finally appointed by the Con-
gress. The minute-men, when enlisted, were authorized
to elect their Captains, Lieutenants, and Ensigns, and these
officers, when elected, appointed their respective noncom-
missioned officers. When these battalions were thus reg-
ularly organized, they were reviewed by the County
Committee, and, if approved by that sovereign power,
certificates were granted to the Captains, and the date of
these certificates determined the priority and rank of the
Captains of the respective battalions. The details of the
plan for the government of these companies would weary
the patience of the reader, and, with a simple statement of
the pay of the officers and soldiers, I shall record the names
of the field-officers, elected by the Congress. A Colonel's
pay was I4s, 3c?., per day, a Lieutenant Colonel's, ils.
5d.f a Major's, 95. 6d., a Captain's, 5*. Sd,, a Lieuten-
ant's, 35. 9d., an Ensign's, 2^. \0d., a Sergeant's, 2s. 2d.,
a Corporal's, a Drummer's, or a Fifer's, 2s. j a Private's,
Is. lOd., and the Commissary was allowed 8c?. per day
for victualling each and every man.*
* Journal of the Congress, printed, p. 25. MS. date September 7.
220 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
Field-Officers and Minute-men.
Edward Vail, Co? >^^^^,^^
n^ K N r^'i!/ C District.
Caleb Nash, Major.
Thomas Wade, Col.
Adley Osborne, Lt.-Col.
Joseph Harden, J/fljor.
Richard Caswell, Col.
William Bryan, Lt.-Col.
James Gorham, Jl/ajor.
Nicholas Long CoZ ^ ^„y,y^^
Henry Irwm,L«..CoL S ^ -^^^^
Jethro Sumner, Major. 3
James Thackson, Col. C Hillsho-
John Williams, Lt.-Col. < rough
James Moore, Major. ^ District.
Alex. Lillington, Col. ^ Wilming-
Robert Ellis, Z,«.-Cw/. > ton
Samuel Swann, Major. ) District..
Besides these battalions of minute-inen, the Congress
proceeded to institute a regular organization of the
militia by the election of field-officers for each of the
counties, and by the issuing of commissions to the officers
elected. To the County Committees was entrusted the
appointment of all subordinate officers, and this latter
class were to be commissioned by the Provincial Council.
The militia was organized upon the same act of Assembly,
upon which it was based during the existence of the Royal
government, and the Committees of Safety were em-
powered to order them out upon any sudden emergency,
when the Council should not be in session. The field-
officers of the militia were appointed on the 9th of Sep-
tember. A simple enumeration of names is a tedious
task for the historian as well as the reader ; but these mi-
litia officers were active and energetic in the prosecution
of the war, and deserve a more extended notice, than the
objects of this volume will permit. I shall, in an Appendix,
present a general view of the military organization of the
forces of the State, which will be found to contain a full
and accurate list of the names of the several officers of
the militia.
We now have three distinct and somewhat indepen-
dent departments in the army of North Carolina. The
two regiments organized on the Continental establishment
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 221
commanded by Colonels Howe and Moore, the six battal-
ions of minute-men, and the forces of the militia. The
troops of the two Continental regiments were denomi-
nated the Regulars, and their officers ranked above those
of the minute-men, as those of the minute-men did above
those of the militia. But a Colonel of the minute-men
ranked above a Lieutenant-Colonel of the regulars, as did
a Colonel of the militia above a Lieutenant-Colonel in
the minute service. The minute-men were enlisted for
six months ; and a confinement for twenty-four hours, and
a fine of fourteen days' pay, was prescribed by the Con-
gress, as the highest punishment to which they could be
subjected. The decisions of all courts-martial were lia-
ble to be reversed by the Council, to which body the con-
victed might appeal ; and this feature in the military poli-
cy of the Province was, perhaps, its greatest weakness.
The greatest security for the good discipline of an army
is the arbitrary rule of war, that there is no appeal from
the decree of the Commander-in-chief.
In the two continental regiments there were sixty-seven
commissioned officers, one hundred and ninety-eight in
the minute service, and twelve hundred and twenty- four
in the militia, making an aggregate of fourteen hundred
and eighty-nine military officers, commissioned by the
authority of the Provincial Congress, at this early period
of the struggle. But few of these commissions were re-
signed, and the many appointments, that were now made,
doubtless strengthened the integrity of the Whig party,
by binding more closely to their interest the relatives and
friends of the officers. At this time, too. Governor Mar-
tin, who still hovered on the shores of the Cape Fear, in
his floating palace, was busily engaged in endeavouring to
19*
222 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
encourage the lukewarm Whigs, to adopt the Roya.
cause ; and one of his many expedients was, to enclose to
such as he might suspect, military commissions and such
other honors, as were calculated to effect his purpose.
I have seen one of these vagrant commissions, issued by
Martin, of date the 14th of December, 1775, to a gentle-
man who, in the latter part of this war, was said to have
been a staunch Whig. But the possession of them was
always looked upon as the premonitory symptom of tergi-
versation and treason.
Among other important objects of consideration, which
came before this Congress, that of the public funds de-
serves to be attentively examined. Richard Caswell was
chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, and in
his reports assumed the principle, that the people repre-
sented in the Congress constituted the State, and not the
Whig party. In previous Congresses, the assessment of
taxes on the people generally, was not resorted to as a
means of public credit, nor did those bodies pretend to a
representation of any other class, than those friendly to
the American cause. While Governor Martin continued
in the palace, surrounded by his Council, the shadow of a
government was before the people ; and ihe humble right
to assemble, to petition and remonstrate, was the essential
principle of the first Provincial Congress. After his ex-
pulsion from the head-quarters of his government, the dis-
persion of his councillors, and the total annihilation of his
authority, the Whig party began to feel its strength and
importance, and now to usurp or assume the power of
controling and directing the State.
On the 29th of August, Mr. Caswell submitted a re-
port on the state of the public funds, embracing two points,
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 223
which will serve to exhibit the resources, which were in-
herited from the Royal government. The first was, that
there was a large amount of public money in the hands
of sundry sheriffs, which had been collected under the
existence of the late government, and the payment of
which he recommended should be immediately enforced.
The other point was, that considerable sums had been
collected by the officers of the late government, under
the famous acts of 1748 and 1754, laying certain duties
for the redemption of the old bills ; and these he recom-
mended should be returned to the persons from whom
they were collected, or else allowed in any subsequent
payment of taxes. The popular House of the Assembly
had repealed the abovementioned acts, as far as they
could, by their own votes, in two several sessions ; and
this report of Caswell's, by ordering the return of the
taxes collected under their operation, virtually assumed
the principle that the Congress was the legitimate des-
cendant of that department of the Royal government.
On the 7ih of September, the chairman of the Com-
mittee of Ways and Means reported, that it was expedient
to issue, on the faith of the Province, a sum not exceed-
ing §125,000, in bills of credit, and with the report sub-
mitted the form of these bills, which was as follows :
" North Carolina Currency.
" No. 178. Three Dollars.
" This bill entitles the bearer to receive three Spanish milled
dollars, or the value thereof in gold and silver, according to a reso-
lution of the Provincial Congress, held at Hillsborough, August 21st,
1775."
1 have in my possession the bill above described. It is
adorned in the margin with a Masonic Emblem, and
signed by Richard Caswell, Samuel Johnston, Andrew
224 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
Knox, and Richard Cogdell, who were authorized to su-
perintend the stamping of the plate, and to sign them and
deliver them over to the two Treasurers of the State.
For the redemption of the bills thus issued, a poll-tax
of two shillings was laid, to commence from the year 1777,
and to continue nine years ; and whosoever refused to
receive these public bills of credit, thus secured, was de-
nounced by a resolution of the Congress as an enemy to
his country. Death was prescribed as the penalty for
counterfeiting ; but the wisdom of the House forbade the
Committees of Safety, before whom the accused was
first to be tried, the infliction of the punishment, and
instructed them in the event of his conviction before them,
to remand him to prison, " until a convenient power should
be established for hearing and determining the matter,
agreeably to the constitutional mode heretofore used in all
capital cases."
The salutary rule of exacting bond, with good and
sufficient secuiiiy (in the sum of £10,000), was ap-
plied in this case ; and the four gendemen appointed to
superintend the emission of the bills accordingly entered
into proper bonds, and took a most solemn oath (pre-
scribed by the Congress) faithfully to execute the high
and honorable duty entrusted to them. On the 8th of
September, Samuel Johnston was elected treasurer for the
Northern, and Richard Caswell for the Southern District ;
and these two gentlemen again entered into bonds of
£50,000 each, proclamation money, to the Provincial
Council, for the faithful performance of the duties of their
offices. On the election of Mr. Caswell as treasurer,
he resigned his seat in the Continental Congress, and was
succeeded by John Penn, one of the members from the
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 225
county of Granville. Mr. Penn was, as even Mr. Jeffer-
son admits, a staunch Whig. He was also a man of ster-
ling integrity as a private citizen, and well deserved the
honor which was now conferred upon him. The delega-
tion from North Carolina in the Continental Congress, as
now organized, continued the same, until the period of the
National Declaration of Independence.
On the 4th of September, the Congress resolved itself
into a committee of the whole, the Rev. Mr. Patillo in
the chair, to take into consideration a paper, purporting
to be a confederation of the United Colonies, and, after
much debate, determined to instruct their delegates not
to consent to any plan of confederation, and that the then
association ought to be further relied on, as a means of ad-
justing the difficulties with the parent State. There were
many objections to a change of the principles of the union
of the colonies, which had been adopted by the associa-
tion, for any other system, although it might be even a
more perfect union. The stability of the Whig party in
North Carolina depended, in a great measure, on the cir-
cumstance that the paper called the "Association," had
been extensively circulated among the people, and, like the
Cumberland or Tryon Association, signed by them mdivid-
ually. In the counties more or less affected with Troyism,
this had proved a most salutary practice, and had contri-
buted to forestall the machinations and intrigues of Gov-
ernor Martin and his party. The public mind was settled
on the principles of the identical Association, and the
wisdom of the Congress prudently determined there to
let it rest.
On the 2d of September, the ceremony of returning the
thanks of the Convention to the delegates in the Continen-
226 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
tal Congress, for their patriotic and faithful discharge of
the important trust reposed in them, was performed by the
President ; and 1 here record the two addresses, on the
occasion, not only as elegant compositions of the kind, but
as the highest evidence of the patriotism of the delegates.
The President rose in his seat and addressed them
as follows :
" Gentlemen,
'' The honorable and patriotic conduct you have pursued in the
discharge of the high and important trust, unanimously committed
to you, with the most unlimited confidence, by the late convention
of this Province, has justified and done honor to their choice, and
now calls forth the grateful thanks, of your fellow citizens, which
thanks, in order that the most honorable testimony of your conduct
may be transmitted to posterity, the Congress have commanded me
to deliver in this place.
'' I do accordingly with the greatest pleasure return you the thanks
of this Congress in behalf of their constituents, for the manly, spir-
ited, and patriotic discharge of your duty, as delegates representing;
this Province in the grand Continental Congress at Philadelphia."
To which the delegates returned the following answer :
'' We, the Delegates of this Province, to whom our fellow citizens
thought fit to consign, with the most unlimited confidence, the great
and important charge of representing them in the late Continental
Congress, beg leave to express our most sincere thanks for the honor-
able testimony, which through you they have thought fit to ren-
der, of our services in that capacity. With hearts warmed with a
zealous love of liberty and desirous of a reconciliation with the
parent state, upon terms just and constitutional, we flattered our-
selves that the integrity of our motives would plead an excuse for
our want of abilities, and that in the candor and charity of our
constituents, our well-meant, however feeble, endeavours would
find their apology. Our expectations are more than answered ; and
this public approbation of our conduct, the greatest reward a sub-
ject can receive or a people bestow, will stimulate us, whether in
private or public life our lot shall be cast, to imitate the virtues of
our patriotic fellow citizens, and to be distinguished by our useful-
ness in society, as we have this day been by the hoiio]:s with which
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 227
they have marked our former endeavours. While our hearts over-
flow with gratitude to this respectable Assembly, we cannot omit to
offer our best acknowledgments to you, honored Sir, for the polite
manner in which you have been pleased to convey to us the sense
of this House, and to congratulate them, that their councils are con-
ducted under the auspices of a character so justly esteemed, and
which adds dignity to the seat in which it presides."
Immediately after the delivery of these speeches, which,
the reader will observe, was before the resignation of
Caswell, Messrs. Hooper, Caswell, and Hewes were re-
elected delegates, and invested with the same powers,
which were conferred on them at their first appointment.
It was during the session of this Congress, on the 8th of
September, that the " Address to the Inhabitants of the
British Empire," a paper of much celebrity in its day, was
unanimously adopted and published as the declaration of
the people of the Province. It was the composition of
William Hooper, who reported it as the chairman of a
committee, consisting of Maurice Moore, Robert Howe,
Richard Caswell, and Joseph Hewes. After reciting the
rights of the Colonies, and disclaiming all idea or desire
of independence, or a total separation from the mother
country, the paper proceeds as follows ;
*• We again declare, and we invoke that Almighty Being who
searches the recesses of the human heart, and knows our most secret
intentions, that it is our most earnest wish and prayer to be restored
with the other United Colonies, to the state in which we and they were
placed before the year 1763, disposed to glance over any regulations
which Britain had made previous to this, and which seem to be inju-
rious and oppressive to these Colonies, hoping that, at some future
day, she will benignly interpose and remove from us every cause of
complaint. Whenever we have departed from the forms of the Con-
stitution, our own safety and self-preservation have dictated the
expedient ; and if, in any instance, we have assumed powers which
the laws invest in the sovereign or his representatives, it has only
been in defence of our persons, properties, and those rights, which
228 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
God and the Constitution have made unalienably ours. As soon as
the causes of our fears and apprehensions are removed, with joy will
we return these powers to their regular channels, and such institu-
tions, formed from mere necessity, shall end with that necessity
which created them."
This address was extensively circulated throughout the
Province, and, containing many expressions of devotion to
the House of Hanover, was not without effect on the un-
decided portion of the people. It penetrated every hut
of the Highlanders, and was read by the leading Whigs,
to their doubting and more timid neighbours, as containing
nothing to which a loyal and honest British subject could
object. All these state-papers were composed under the
supervision of committees, and the import of each word
carefully weighed, before it was laid before the Congress.
In this, a proper degree of respect for the opinions and
rights of the loyalists is strictly maintained, and, at the same
time, the parts which I have extracted distinctly disclose
the only means of adjusting the controversy, viz. the res-
toration of the United Colonies " to the state in which
they were placed before the year 1763."
On Sunday, the 10th of September, the Congress pro-
ceeded to take into consideration the encouragement of
manufactures, and resolved to bestow bounties on the
manufacture of gunpowder, saltpetre, and all other "en-
ablements unto the military establishment." Cotton and
woolen cards, pins, iron, steel, paper, and a variety of
other articles were encouraged ; and, after the perform-
ance of the duty of returning thanks to the President for
his able and impartial discharge of the duties of his sta-
tion, the Congress adjourned.
CHAPTER IX.
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
(cONTINtlED.)
The Continental Congress assembled on the 13th of
September, and in this body the Province of Georgia ap-
peared, and thus completed the list of the Thirteen United
Colonies. The affairs of North Carolina were frequently
before the Congress, and her exception out of the operation
of the act of Parliament, restraining the trade of the col-
onies, was first acted on, and her people implored to for-
bear from the advantages which were thus offered. I have
already explained the true reason of that exception, by the
introduction of a letter of Alexander Elmsly, the agent
of the popular House of the Assembly at London. In
North Carolina, the benefits of the act were of course un-
avoidable. It was an act of oppression, out of which she
was excepted, and the process of '' forbearing to avafl
themselves of its advantages," was an extremity, to wliich
neither patriotism nor prudence should have induced her
people to go. The path of duty was, to embrace both
that and every other opportunity, to grow in prosperity
and strength, that she might be the better prepared for
the struggle, which she plainly saw so rapidly approach-
ing. It was spurned as a bribe, and she exercised it as
a right.
The Continental Congress, however, as if to honor
North Carolina by similar privileges, directed her to ex-
20
230 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
port to the Island of Bermuda, sixteen thousand bushels of
corn, and four hundred and sixty-eight bushels of peas
and beans. In connexion with Maryland and Virginia,
she was likewise permitted to export her produce to any
part of the world, except Great Britain and her domin-
ions, and to import salt ; and these previleges too she
accepted, and exercised, not as a bribe, but as a right.
The emissions of bills of credit, by the Congress, to the
amount of three millions of dollars, was the most sub-
stantial favor rendered to North Carolina ; and the support
which that amount afforded to the American cause, was
better culculated to attach the sympathies of the people
to the Continental Congress, than the superfluous con-
ferring of indisputable and undoubted privileges.
The two regiments, commanded by Colonels Howe and
Moore, were received by the Congress on the Continental
establishment, and ordered to the defence of North Caro-
lina and the adjacent States. The efforts of the Congress
to advance the Whig interest of North Carolina were
exerted with great advantage, by the employment of two
Presbyterian ministers of Philadelphia, to visit their less
faithful brethren in the South, and to endeavour to per-
suade them to abandon the cause of the Royal government.
Some time previous to this, the ministers of that denomi-
nation in Philadelphia, who belonged to the Whig party,
appealed to the patriotism of their brethren in North
Carolina, by the publication of a letter of advice and ex-
postulation ; and failing in that means of conversion, they
now determined, under the sanction of the Continental
Congress, to visit them in person. The Presbyterians of
North Carolina, who were loyalists, were generally of the
Highland clans ; and many of the staunchest Whigs^ in the
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 231
western part of the State, were pious adherents of that
extensive and respectable denomination.
I shall now proceed to notice the proceedings of the
Provincial Council, and shall, in as short a space as pos-
sible, conduct the reader to the period of its existence.
In the course of my details, I shall wander several
months in. the year 1776 ; but shall return to record
some of the events, which took place towards the close of
the year 1775.
The Provincial Council held its first session on the
18th day of October, 1775, in the Court-House of the
county of Johnston. Cornelius Harnett, Esquire, of Wil-
mington, was elected President, and James Green, Jun.,
appointed clerk. The principal business before them
was entirely of a warlike nature. The vigilant County
Committees seem to have aroused the whole population
of the Province, and to have infused into the minds of
the young and the aged, the desire of war. The jour-
nal of this, unlike that of the Royal Council, presents a
series of petitions and demands not for land warrants
or pecuniary claims, but for ammunition, fire-arms,
swords, and other warlike implements. Appointments
of paymasters and appropriations for military service had
become more the fashion of the day, than the appoint-
ment of trustees and appropriations for land surveys.
It is difficult to estimate the military spirit of that day.
The numerous applications for military commissions which
were every day laid before the Council, and the constant
appeals to their encouragement and patronage, by volun-
teer bands of Whigs under the command of some ardent
spirit, soon gave the Council the opportunity to exercise
their authority in the usual objects of government, as well
232 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
as in the organization of a military force. It was essen-
tially the supreme authority of the Province, and was
advancing daily in the acquisition of strength, until its
dissolution by the Provincial Congress of the succeeding
spring.
The power and authority of this executive of the new
government, — neither correctly defined, nor accurately
understood, — executed whatever in its opinion was of ser-
vice to the common cause, and approved of the apprehen-
sion and confinement of Tories, as one of the most useful
occupations of the guardians of the people. They acted as
supervisors of the political principles of the province, and
chastised the obstinate or persuaded the timid into a support
of the American cause. It is impossible, in a work like
this, to record even an analysis of the copious proceed-
ings of the Council, or to give a more accurate definition
of their powers, than is conveyed in the appellation of
the Executive of the acts of the Provincial Congress and
of their own determinations. They corresponded with the
Committees of Correspondence, conferred with the District
Committees of Safety, with the County Committees, and
with all other persons favorably disposed towards the com-
mon cause, and executed or not at their pleasure the de-
signs of their several bodies.
On the 22d of October, 1775, intelligence of serious
discontents among the people of the County of New
Hanover was received, and this calamity was charitably
ascribed to the misrepresentations of the Governor's party.
The people had assembled in a large body, and publicly
protested against the proceedings of the late Congress
as beyond the limit of a peaceable mode of redress, and
as of a character decidedly revolutionary, or rebellious.
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 333
The Council highly disapproved of such conduct as tend-
ing to create dissensions to the prejudice of American
liberty, and instructed John Ashe, Samuel Ashe, and Mr.
President Harnett, to explain the proceedings of the Con-
gress to the people, and to endeavour by argument and
persuasion to maintain that harmony, so essential to the
preservation of the rights of the Province. These em-
issaries of freedom soon contrived to restore order, and
to infuse zeal, wherever they went ; and the discontented
people of New Hanover soon yielded to the influence of
their three leaders, and returned to the support of the
common cause.
The second Provincial Council was held again at the
Court-House of Johnston on the 18th of December, 1775,
and Cornelius Harnett, as President, was again at his post.
On the second day of its session, the Sheriff of Halifax,
Mr. Branch, presented himself to the Council, and prayed
condign punishment on two Tories, whom he had caught
in the course of his official excursions. Walter Lamb
and George Massinbird were the names of the two per-
sons in his custody, and the "judgment of the Council
was, that Mr. Branch should keep in his custody the said
Lamb, and remand him for trial before the Committee of
Safety for Halifax district." The other, George Massin-
bird, played the penitent, and, after taking an oath satisfac-
tory to the Council, was discharged. The Council during
its second session discovered the cause of the great discon-
tents in the Cape Fear country, in the influence and indus-
try of Governor Martin and the officers of the Cruiser,
who, by proclamations and spies, contrived to disseminate
their odious doctrines, and, by promises of high favor
and offices, had produced dissatisfaction even among the
20*
234 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
Whigs. Tlie Provincial Congress had been represented
as an assemblage of turbulent agitators, intent on public
plunder, and regardless or insensible of the rights of man.
The County Committees, those engines of revolution,
were censured as a tyrannical, self-constituted junto, com-
posed of violent and unprincipled men, whose only object,
in the overthrow of the government, was to usurp the ab-
solute authority of tyrants. Such were the schemes of
Governor Martin, concerted in the state-room of a ship of
war, and circulated among the people of the surrounding
country. His floating residence was however guarded by
a detachment of Whigs, and his Excellency, now restrict-
ed in his movements to dangerous aquatic excursions, was
unable to effect any material changes in public opinion,
without the agency of spies and secret communications.
The Council recommended to the Committees of Wil-
mington and Brunswick, and to the commanding officers
of the detachment, to cut off all manner of personal com-
munication between the ship and the shore, and that all
letters to or from " Governor Martin, or the ship of war,"
should be opened, and their contents observed. Obedi-
ence to this efficient advice, and a determination to cut off
all supplies of provisions from the shore, soon exhausted
the strength of the Governor and his fleet, and thus
healed in a measure the dissensions of the people. The
prejudice against the measures concerted for the defence
of American freedom was dispelled, and the people of New
Hanover returned in a body to the support of the cause
of the Provincial Congress, and the cause of the people.
On the 2 1st of December, the Council, in anticipation
of an invasion, appointed Committees in each district to
attend to the state of the arms and other warlike imple-
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 335
ments, and with authority to purchase up all such materials.
On the same day it was resolved to raise two battalions
of minute men in the district of Salisbury, and the follow-
ing officers were appointed to the command of them.
Griffith Rutherford, Colonel f
John Phifer, Lieut.- Colonel > of the First Battalion,
John Paisly, Major j
Thomas Polk, Colonel ^
Adam Alexander, Lieut. -Colonel > 0/ the Second Battalion.
Charles Maclaine, Major )
It will be seen from such proceedings how vigilant was
the Council in guarding, not only the integrity of the
Whig party, but the safety of the people, from invasion
and domestic war. Their vigilance appears on every
page of their journal ; but nowhere so conspicuously as
on the 24th of December, the last day of their session.
They recommended to the several town and county
committees in the Province to furnish the captains of all
military companies with copies of the Test, that it be
presented to the men under their command for their ap-
probation, and that a list of all such as shall refuse or
neglect to sign the same, should be forwarded to the
Council at their next meeting. It was then resolved, that
no person should be entitled to any benefit or relief
against any debtor as directed by the Provincial Con-
gress, unless such person should at least ten days
previously to application have subscribed the Continental
Association and the Test, as recommended by the Pro-
vincial Congress. The Whig party, thus rigidly disciplin-
ed, speedily subdued their weaker and less numerous ene-
my, and was soon prepared to insult the majesty of the
Throne. An invariable enforcement of the decrees of
their constituted authorities inspired a spirit of confidence
236 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
among their friends, and of despair among their ene-
mies ; and to bolh of these circumstances must we attrib-
ute the many chivalrous deeds, which distinguished that
age. In every section of the Province, the fury of the
contest was raging, and public duty and public virtue
persuaded the Whigs to a violent abuse of the persons of
the Tories, and not unfrequently to the commission of a
bloodier tragedy. The inducements to abandon the Tory
party at this day were too numerous and too lucrative to
be resisted, except by those who were attached to old
England by the most endearing recollections ; and accord-
ingly we find the spirit of Toryism more submissive, at
this, than at a more subsequent and doubtful period of the
contest. The King had no army in North Carolina, the
Governor for the want of protection had absconded from
his palace, and the authority of Mr. President Harnett
and his Council was physically supreme. Under these
circumstances, the Highlanders from Scodand were almost
alone in their devotion to the authority of the Governor,
and even many of these found it convenient (to escape
their debts, as their countrymen said), to espouse the
Whig cause, and to sustain it throughout the war.
The third Provincial Council assembled in New Berne,
by request of the President, on the 28ih of February,
1776. The Continental Congress having recommended
to the southern colonies to appoint committees to meet
at Charleston, to ascertain the means of defence against
invasion, President Harnett had called together the
Council at an earlier period than was proposed, to des-
patch the proper number of delegates. Abner Nash and
John Kinchen were appointed on the part of North Car-
olina, and instructed to repair to Charleston without delay.
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 237
I shall extract from the Journal of this session one
incident, which will show the nature of the business prin-
cipally transacted by the Council. — March 2d, 1776.
William Bourk, being; charged with being inimical to the
liberties of America, was brought before this Council,
when Mr. John Strange appeared as a witness, who, first
being sworn,
" Deposeth, and saith that last night, he heard the said William
Bourk express himself in the following manner, viz. ' That we
should all be subdued by the month of May by the King's troops,
that General Gage deserved to be damned because he had not let the
guards out to Bunker Hill, and it would have settled the dispute at
that time. That there were forty-seven thousand troops expected
soon to America, and it would be in vain to pretend to defend our-
selves against them.' All which the said William Bourk acknowl-
edged, and further said, ' he wished the time would happen this in-
stant, but was sure the Americans would be subdued by the month
of August ' ; whereupon it was Resolved, That the said William
Bourk be sent to the Town of Halifax and committed to close gaol,
there to remain until further orders."
It had been proposed by the Continental Congress,
that the Committee of Safety of Virginia and the Pro-
vincial Council of North Carolina should meet together
and confer on their mutual interest ; and Thomas Jones,
Samuel Johnston, and Thomas Person were appointed
to represent the Council on such an occasion. This was
anodier mode of communication between the Colonies,
which contributed its share to unite the sympathies of the
Whigs in every section of the country, and which paved
the way to such an unanimous action among them, on
other succeeding and more important points. In this
Council, it was resolved to disarm all suspected persons ;
and this hazardous duty was entrusted to the county com-
mittees. The execution of such a task was of course
238 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
attended with much strife and bloodshed, and not to be
justified on any other principles than those of war. It was
the signal for rapine and plunder, as well as for arms; and
many a loyal and dutiful subject of the King surrendered
his principles, rather than his property, and became a
loud and clamorous Whig. It was a glorious field for the
display of personal courage, and for the achievement of
daring deeds. In these petty battles, the magnanimity
and gallantry of the gentleman of honor were often in-
voked for the protection of beauty and timid virtue ; and
many a damsel was shielded from violence by the chivalry
of a single officer of generosity and valor.*
* The reader is again reminded, that in discussing the proceed-
ings of the Congress or the Council, the dates in the text are cita-
tions of authorities from the manuscript Journals in the State De-
partment of North Carolina.
CHAPTER X.
• THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
(continued.)
During the latter part of the year 1775, a numerous
Colony of Scotch Highlanders, coming directly from the
mother country, reinforced the party of Governor Martin
on the shores of the Cape Fear. The heads of these clans,
having suffered by their faithful adherence to the cause
of the Pretender, and, while in Scotland, having lived in
continued awe of the reigning sovereign, had now fled or
migrated to North Carolina, in search of that profound
peace, which the extent and solitude of her forests seemed
to ensure. Their guilty apprehensions and alarms were
subjected to the cunning and craft of Governor Martin,
who preyed upon their feelings by threats of punishment for
their former transgressions, and by misrepresentations of
the character and strength of the Whigs. This argument
he had used with success in his intrigues with the more
ignorant of the Regulators of Orange, Anson, and Guil-
ford ; and these people, thus operated on by the same feel-
ing with the Highlanders, associated and cooperated with
them, and now began to prepare to fight under their lead-
ers. The banks of the Cape Fear and the valleys of its
remote sources, the Deep and Haw rivers flowing through
the present counties of Moore, Orange, Chatham, Guil-
ford, and Randolph, comprising the very heart of the
240 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
Province, were overrun with this species of population ;
and the residence of Governor Martin, at the mouth of
the river, enabled him to encourage them by the success
of his intrigues and the constant assurance of succour and
reward from the Throne. Confidence was inspired by
the hourly expectation of Sir Henry Clinton at Wilming-
ton with a powerful naval and military armament ; and
rumors were also afloat that Sir Peter Parker and Lord
Cornwallis had sailed from Portsmouth, at the head of a
large and well disciplined army, intended for the subjuga-
tion of the Southern Provinces. Thus were the Tories
animated and encouraged by hopes of foreign aid, to as-
sist in the conquest of a land, which they had adopted
as a home for themselves and their posterity.
But while the southern part of North Carolina was
thus disturbed, the shores of the Albemarle contiguous to
Virginia were threatened with an invasion from Lord
Dunmore, whose emissaries were discovered in the vicinity
of Edenton, endeavouring to enlist the negroes and the
few Tories residing in that section of the Province. The
efforts of his Lordship had deen instigated by Sir Henry
Clinton, who was loitering on his way towards the head-
quarters of Governor Martin, where he had determined
to await the arrival of the armament of Sir Peter Par-
ker. It was one part of his military policy to attack the
Province, both at the north and the south ; and from the
cooperation of Dunmore in the first, and the Highland
Tories in the second, victory was confidently expected.
But Colonel Robert Howe was at his post at Edenton, in
which place a detachment of his regiment was stationed.
On November 7th, Lord Dunmore issued a proclama-
tion from Norfolk, at which place he had collected a
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
241
large army of the lower order of whites and negroes, in
which he proclaimed martial law * and offered freedom
to the indented apprentices and slaves of the country.
Thus abetted, he acquired an entire ascendancy in the
vicinity of that ancient Borough, and the intelligence of
his strength and growing influence extended into the
territory of the adjacent State. Colonel Howe at the
head of his troops marched into Virginia about the
1st of December, and joined Colonel Woodford of
Williamsburg, at the head of about two hundred minute-
men and a detachment of regulars, at the Great Bridge
about the time of the batde at that place, on the 9th of
December. His Lordship, on gaining intelligence of their
approach, established himself on a piece of high land sur-
rounded by a marsh, on the north side of the Elizabeth
River at the Great Bridge, which the two armies were
obliged to cross, to reach Norfolk. The Provincial
army encamped within gun shot of this post, and, although
without artillery, prepared to maintain their stand.
While the opposing armies were thus arrayed, eager and
anxious for battle, on the 9th of December, Captain
Fordyce, the commanding officer of Lord Dunmore's
post, advanced to storm the works of the Provincials.
Between day-break and sun-rise at the head of sixty
grenadiers, he advanced with fixed bayonets, on the nar-
row causeway leading from the post, and sustained with
wonderful intrepidity the heavy front and flank fire of the
American army. The victory was fiercely disputed by
Captain Fordyce and his grenadiers, who were slaugh-
tered to a man immediately before the breastwork of the
* Marshall, Vol. I. p. 68. I quote from the abridged Life of
Washington.
21
242 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
Provincials. On the night of the 10th, the British post was
abandoned, and the Provincial Army, under the exclusive
command * of Colonel Howe, marched to Norfolk, and
there forced Lord Dunmore, after the fashion of the
North Carolina Royal Governor, to take refuge in a ship
of war.
(1776.) Colonel Howe fixed himself in the abandoned
quarters of his routed rival, and vigilantly watched the
movements of the ships of war, that floated directly ofTthe
town. He occasionally amused the soldiers by firing
into the vessels from the houses nearest the water, and
Lord Dunmore, irritated by this harassing system of war-
fare, on the 1st of January, 1776, landed a detachment
of troops under a heavy cannonade, and set fire to the
buildings on the wharves. The Provincial troops, en-
tertaining strong prejudices against the station, in conse-
quence of the reputed influence of Lord Dunmore
among a majority of the people, made no effort to extin-
guish the flames, and the best authority of the day records
the circumstance, that the fire "continued for several
weeks." f
In the midst of these troubles. Colonel Howe waited
on the proper authority of Virginia, and urged the pro-
priety of burning down the remaining part of the city of
Norfolk ; and, although this was one of those " ill-judged
measures of which the consequences are felt long after
the motives are forgotten," J still it is my duty to illus-
trate the conduct of Colonel Howe, by an examination of
the reasons which justified him in suggesting, and the Con-
vention of Virginia in ordering, the destruction of the town.
* Marshall's Life of Washington, Vol. I. p. 69. t Ibid. t Ibid.
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 243
The strong hold which Dunmore had contrived to get
on the sympathies of the lower order of the people in
that part of the State, and the perfect facility of enlisting
negroes as soldiers, rendered the constant presence of an
efficient military force indispensable for the safety of the
Whig cause. The convenient quarters afforded him in
elegant edifices of the Borough, as well as its great con-
venience as a military and naval depot, rendered it equally
indispensable, that it should be destroyed, if this strong
military force could not be maintained. The advanta-
ges derived by the common enemy of the country from
the possession of the Borough, aided and abetted by the
sympathies of so many of the people, were too great to
save the remainder of a small town, which had been
already on fire " for several weeks " ; and Colonel Howe
and the Virginia Convention prudently determined to lay
waste the strong-hold of Dunmore, as one of the greatest
services they could render the American cause.
The courage and sagacity of Colonel Howe have never
been questioned, and are well sustained by this single
" ill-judged measure," of which the motives seem to be
forgotten, long after its consequences have ceased to be
felt. His troops alone protected the town, and kept
in subjection the Tories and negroes of the surrounding
country ; and, as his own country was now actually invad-
ed by a foreign army, a higher obligation than he could
possibly owe Virginia, would soon call him away to the
defence of his own fireside. Colonel Woodford, accord-
ing to Mr. Wirt, proceeded to Norfolk under Colonel
Howe, who brought with him from North Carolina five
or six hundred men, and into whose hands was committed
the preservation of Virginia, and the defeat of the schemes
244 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
of Lord Dunmore. Thus situated, compelled himself to
return to the Cape Fear, and seeing no prospect of
leaving behind him an efficient military force for the per-
manent security of the advantage he had gained, Colonel
Howe determined to leave to Lord Dunmore nothing but
the ashes of his former magnificent head-quarters. Thus
were the black and white adherents of the Royal cause
in Virginia intimidated and subdued, and the threatened
invasion of the Albemarle shores by Lord Dunmore
averted. Howe carried the war into the enemy's camp,
and, before even his schemes of invasion and warfare
were concerted, was thundering at the gates of Norfolk.
In North Carolina, tradition bestows on Colonel Howe
and his troops the chief merit of having gained the ad-
vantages over Lord Dunmore which I have described ^
and the Convention of Virginia and the Congress of
North Carolina both justify and support his claims to
such a distinction. The pages of Wirt and Marshall
allude to him in distant and not the most respectful
terms ; '^" but the voice of history is often but the echo of
pride and prejudice, and I shall here present a contempo-
rary record of the high opinion of his services, taken from
the Journal of the Congress of North Carolina in April,
1776. On the 27th of April, it was resolved that the
thanks of the Congress should be returned to Brigadier-
General Howe, for his manly, generous, and warlike con-
duct, and more especially for the reputation which our
Provincial troops acquired under him at the conflagra-
tion of Norfolk. Accordingly on the 2d of May, Gen-
eral Howe being present in the Congress, the President
rose in his seat and thus addressed him.
^ Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry, pp. 188, 196, 197.
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 245
" Brigadier General Howe,
" Sir,
" I am commanded by the Congress to return you their thanks for
your manly, generous, and warlike conduct in these unhappy times?
more especially for the reputation our troops acquired under your
command. I now with infinite pleasure to myself, in compliance
with that command, return you the thanks of this House, for
the important services rendered by you to the common cause, and
in particular for your manly and officerlike exertions, during the
whole of the late important and critical campaign."
To which the General returned the following answer :
" Mr. President.
" As I have no wish so ardent, no ambition so strong, as that of
serving the noble cause to which I have devoted myself, how happy
must it make me, when, to the pleasing consciousness of having
endeavoured to do my duty, you so politely add the approbation
of my country. It is an heartfelt and honorable testimony, that
my efforts have not been wholly unsuccessful ; and my felicity upon
this occasion can only be increased by considering, that I have this
public opportunity of expressing the obligations I feel to be due to
those officers and men of every corps under my command, whose
ready acceptance and whose spirited execution of the orders issued,
have obtained me the distinguishing honors of this day. Permit me,
Sir, through you to assure the honorable Convention, that 1 have the
most grateful sense of their favor, and that I conceive the best re-
turn I can make is with zeal and activity to pursue the dictates of my
duty, in which resolution I cannot but persevere, as the good of my
country is the end I aim at, and its applause the consequence and
reward of promoting it. Accept, Sir, my thanks for the manner in
which you have so obligingly conveyed to me the sense of your
honorable House."
I must now return to the military operations in the
southern part of North Carolina, and observe the warlike
preparations of the Whigs and Highland Tories imme-
diately preceding the celebrated battle of Moore's Creek.
With a view of cooperating with Sir Henry Clinton as
soon as he should arrive, Governor Martin had not only
employed energetic emissaries to arouse the Tory popu-
21*
246 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
lation to arms, but had issued a commission of Briga-
dier-General to Donald McDonald, the most influential
chief of the Highlanders, which he accompanied with a
Proclamation, commanding all the King's subjects to rally-
around the standard of the new Scotch general. The
paper was without a date, and the period of its publica-
tion left to the discretion of McDonald. On the 1st of
February the Royal standard was erected at Cross Creek,
the proclamation published, and fifteen hundred men mus-
tered under the command of General McDonald.
In the midst of these preparations of the Tories, Colo-
nel Moore, at the head of his Continental Regiment, and
a detachment of the New Hanover Militia, marched to-
wards Cross Creek (now Fayetteville), and pitched his
camp on Rock Fish River, about twelve miles south
of the head-quarters of McDonald. He fortified his
camp, established a system of running scouts and spies,
and thus prevented all communication between the Tories
and the head-quarters of Governor Martin. In the mean
time the Whigs of Wilmington and Brunswick were ac-
tive and vigilant ; and, intent on the same general object
of preventing the junction of the two forces, Colonels
Caswell and Alexander Lillington had established them-
selves on the bank of Moore's Creek near its entrance
into South River in New Hanover. This army com-
prised about a thousand men, consisting of the militia
companies, and two volunteer corps, under the command
of Colonel Lillington, which were said to have been the
best disciplined soldiers in the Province. A rigid espi-
onage was established throughout all the adjacent country,
and every opportunity of intercourse between Governor
Martin and General McDonald effectually destroyed.
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 247
The first movement of General McDonald was towards
Colonel Moore. Halting within a few miles of his camp,
he addressed him a letter (dated on the 20ih of February),
accompanying the Proclamation of the Governor and his
own Manifesto, in which he urged the Colonel to espouse
the cause of his Sovereign and the Constitution. It was
a decided but friendly letter, and commenced by bewail-
ing the difficulty of his situation ; urged on by his duty to
the King to the necessity of shedding blood, and yet hu-
manely disposed to avoid, if possible, so fatal a catas-
trophe. He offered to the Colonel, his officers, and his
men, in the name of the King, a free pardon and indem-
nity for all past transgressions, if they would lay down
their arms and take the oath of allegiance, and implored
them to accept these terms, — " otherwise, he should
consider them as traitors to the Constitution, and take the
necessary steps to conquer and subdue them."
Colonel Moore availed himself of a privilege of several
days to consider and weigh in his mind the contents of
the letter ; and embraced this opportunity of gaining a
thorough insight into the arrangement and strength of the
enemy's army. He delayed an answer until he could
no longer do so, and then he replied in a letter, "^ that he
and his followers were engaged in a cause, the most
glorious and honorable in the world, — the defence of
the rights of mankind, and that they needed no pardon.
He inclosed the General a copy of the Test required by
the Provincial Congress, and invited him and his officers
to sign it, and then to lay down their arms ; otherwise, he
might expect that treatment with which he had been pleas-
ed to threaten him and his followers.
* I have seen these letters in print as well as manuscript.
248 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
But while this parley was going on between the two
belligerents, intelligence was received at the camp of
McDonald of the arrival of Sir Henry Clinton and Lord
William Campbell at the head-quarters of Governor
Martin, with a considerable force intended for the reduc-
tion of North Carolina. The Scotch General was now
intent on joining the army of Clinton, and endeavoured in
every way to avoid an engagement with Colonel Moore,
whose ranks had been daily swelled by the arrival of nu-
merous bodies of militia. McDonald at last sagaciously
determined to shun at every hazard an engagement with
his adversary, and accordingly decamped at midnight, and
by rapid marches contrived to elude the vigilant pursuit
of Colonel JMoore. The retreating arniy crossed the
Cape Fear, and directed its course towards Wilmington,
intending to leave that place to the south, and approach
the British station, which was near the mouth of the river,
by clinging to the seashore, and thus escaping the Pro-
vincial troops in and about the town of Brunswick.
On the night of the second day's march. General
McDonald pitched his camp on the banks of South River ;
and, crossing from Bladen into New Hanover County on
the next day, he suddenly came upon the encampments
of Colonels Lillington and Caswell, upon the east side of
Moore's Creek, a small stream that flows from north to
south, and empties into the South River about twenty miles
above Wilmington. The situation of the Scotch General,
with the army of Colonel Moore in rapid pursuit and the
forces of Colonels Lillington and Caswell in front, was
too critical for delay ; and, although he himself was con-
fined with sickness, an engagement was determined on
under the immediate command of Colonel McLeod.
TEH NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 249
The cairips of the belligerents were divided only by the
small stream, which was crossed by a bridge; and, on the
night of the 11th of March before the battle, the camp of
Colonel Lillington was visited by one Felix Kenan,* an
irresolute character, who had not the independence to be
a Tory or the honesty to be a Whig, and from this in-
dividual tlie intelligence was received, that an attack was
to be made early the ensuing morning. Colonel Lilling-
ton drew up his forces across a peninsula, formed by the
creek, which commanded both the road and the bridge ;
and, owing to this arrangement of his troops, which was
singularly advantageous, Colonel Caswell was, for want
of room, compelled to form in his rear. In the course of
the night preceding the battle. Colonel Lillington ordered
the planks to be taken from the bridge, and, keeping his
men constantly under arms, awaited the approach of the
enemy.
At break of day the forces of the Scotch General were
in motion, and with a steady march approached the verge
of the stream, when the fire on both sides commenced,
and Colonel McLeod charging furiously on the bridge,
fell in the very commencement of the engagement.
His officers following on, the bridge again proved a fatal
spot. Their ranks were thrown into confusion not only
by the death of their officers, but by the absence of
the planks of the bridge ; and Colonel Lillington, availing
himself of this discomfiture, charged across the stream
and engaged the very heart of the enemy's ranks. The
contest was even now fiercely waged. Many of the
Scotch fought around the camp of their sick General
with wonderful intrepidity, and yielded him up a prisoner,
* This fact I obtained from a letter of Governor Ashe.
250 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
only after every means of defence was exhausted. In the
mean time Colonel Caswell, who had occupied the rear
ground of Colonel Lillington, having crossed the creek,
charged heavily on the ranks of the enemy, and with his
aid the whole Royal army was routed, and the men flying
in every direction were pursued, and many of them made
prisoners. Thus terminated the battle of Moore's Creek,
one of the most fortunate victories in the annals of the
Revolution. The predictions and the hopes of Governor
Martin were disappointed ; the unanimity of the Scotch
population was broken ; the Tories were disheartened,
and the Whigs inspired with confidence and enthusiasm.
To Colonel Lillington 1 have ascribed the honors of the
day, and have done so upon the evidence of the few
living Patriarchs of North Carolina. He was the junior
of Colonel Caswell in rank, but from the position of the
latter it was impossible for him to share in the earlier
labor of the day. Colonel Lillington was a native of
North Carolina, and deserves to be remembered as one
of the earliest and most efficient Whigs of that day.*
* I must here acknowledge the heavy obligations which I owe
to Colonel Samuel Ashe of Cape Fear. I am more indebted to him
than to any other individual in the State for the most authentic
and important historical details. He is now far advanced in life,
but still retains the possession of a most vigorous mind.
CHAPTER XI.
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
(continued.)
The Provincial Congress, at the summons of Samuel
Johnston, assembled at Halifax on the 4lh of April, and
this body was distinguished by the presence of those
to whom I have often alluded, as the leaders of the Whig
party. The important question of Independence was
moved, discussed, and unanimously approved by this
Congress, and this circumstance alone will perpetuate its
fame. On Monday the 8th of April, 1776, Cornelius
Harnett, Governor Burke, Allen Jones, Thomas Jones,
Governor Nash, Mr. Kinchin, and General Thomas
Person were appointed a committee to take into consid-
eration the usurpations and violences committed by the
King and Parliament of Britain ; and, on the succeeding
12th, Mr. Harnett submitted the following report, which
I am justified in pronouncing his own composition.
" Report on the Subject of Independence.
" It appears to your committee, that, pursuant to the plan concert-
ed by the British Ministry for subjugating America, the King and
Parliament of Great Britain have usurped a power over the persons
and properties of the people unlimited and uncontrolled, and, dis-
regarding their humble petitions for peace, liberty, and safety, have
made divers legislative acts, denouncing war, famine, and every
species of calamity against the continent in general. The British
fleets and armies have been, and still are, daily employed in de-
stroying the people and committing the most horrid devastations
252 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
on the country. The Governors in different colonies have declared
protection to slaves, who should imbrue their hands in the blood
of their masters. Tlie ships belonging to America are declared
prizes of war, and many of them have been violently seized and
confiscated. In consequence of all which, multitudes of the peo-
ple have been destroyed, or from easy circumstances reduced to the
most lamentable distress.
" And whereas, the moderation hitherto manifested by the United
Colonies, and their sincere desire to be reconciled to the mother
country on constitutional principles, have procured no mitigation
of the aforesaid wrongs and usurpations, and no hopes remain of
obtaining redress by those means alone which have been hitherto
tried, — your Committee are of opinion, that the House should en-
ter into the following Resolve, to wit :
" Resolved, That the Delegates for this Colony in the Contin-
ental Congress be impowered to concur with the Delegates of the
other Colonies in declormg Independence, and forming foreign alli-
ances, reserving to this Colony the sole and exclusive right of form-
ing a Constitution and laws for this Colony and of appointing
Delegates from time to time (under the direction of a general rep-
resentation thereof) to meet the Delegates of the other Colonies,
for such purposes as shall be hereafter pointed out." (Journal of
the Congress, pp. 11, 12.)
These proceedings were on the 12th of April, and
the resolution which was proposed was on that day
unanimously adopted. It preceded the recommendation
of the Virginia Convention on the same subject by more
than a month, and is the first open and public declaration
for independence, by the proper authority of any one of
the colonies, on record. It has, however, escaped the
observation of the " historians of the adjacent States ; "
and even Mr. Wirt, who was in the confidence of the
author of the National Declaration of Independence, and
whose details upon the history of that important instru-
ment are copious, seems to have forgotten, if he ever
knew, the real origin of the action of the Continental
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 253
Congress. This resolution of the Provincial was for-
warded on to the Continental Congress,* and has been
within a few years observed among the stale papers at
Washington City. It was noticed by Mr. Pitkin in his
very able and useful work, and the proceedings of the
Congress, in which it was adopted, were republished by
the Assembly of North Carolina, a few years since, when
the letter of Mr. Jefferson was before that body. In
point of composition, the report may be compared with
any of the public documents of that day, and will cer-
tainly lose nothing by the strictest comparison with that
before the Virginia Convention on the succeeding 15th of
May.
In the course of my details of the history of the State,
I have often alluded to the constant vigilance of the
Whigs over their internal and more deadly enemies, the
Tories ; and now, during the session of this Congress, a
public Manifesto or Declaration was published, explain-
ing and justifying the severity of their conduct. It as-
sumed the ground, that the Tories had been conquered
at the battle of Moore's Creek, and set forth the reasons
of their future policy, in the high and imperative tone of
a victorious party. It was adopted on the 29th of April,
and stands recorded on the Journal of the Congress,
under that date. I have only room for the few conclud-
ing paragraphs, which are here submitted to illustrate the
liberal and generous feelings of the higher orders of the
Whigs.
" We have their security in contemplation, not to make them
miserable. In our power, their errors claim our pity, their situation
* It was presented to the Continental Congress on the 27th of
May, 1776.
22
254 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
disarms our resentment. We shall hail their reformation with in-
creasing pleasure, and receive them among us with open arms.
Sincere contrition and repentance shall atone for their past conduct.
Members of the same political body with ourselves, we feel the con-
vulsion which such a severance occasions ; and shall bless the day,
which shall restore them to us, friends of liberty, to the cause of
America, the cause of God and mankind.
" We war not with the helpless females, whom they have left be-
hind them ; we sympathize in their sorrow, and wish to pour the balm
of pity into the wounds which a separation from husbands, fathers,
and the dearest relations has made. They are the rightful pension-
ers upon the charity and bounty of those who have aught to spare
from their own necessities for the relief of their indigent fellow
creatures : to such we recommend them.
" May the humanity and compassion, which mark the cause we
are engaged in, influence them to such a conduct as may call forth
our utmost tenderness to their friends, whom we have in our power.
Much depends upon the future demeanor of the friends of the In-
surgents who are left among us, as to the treatment our prisoners
may experience. Let them consider these as hostages for their own
good behaviour, and by their own merits make kind offices to their
friends a tribute of duty as well as humanity from us, who have
them in our power."
The humanity of the Congress was exhibited by a
grant of the most liberal parole of honor to General
McDonald and his son, who held a Colonel's commis-
sion in the Tory army ; and both of these officers are
complimented for their candor in the very language of
the resolution. The Whigs were the undoubted victors
of the field, but they did not sully the laurels which they
had gained, by a brutal or ignominious imprisonment of
the person of the conquered General."^
On the 22d of April the Congress resolved to emit
$250-000 in bills of credit, and adopted the following
form as the impression of the currency.
* The battle of Moore's Creek was fought on the 27th of Feb-
ruary, 1776.
THE jNEW whig GOVERNMENT. 255
'^ North Carolina Currency.
Dollars, by authority of Congress, at Halifax, on
the day of April, 177G.
These bills were signed by William Haywood, John
Webb, William Williams, and David Sumner ; and the
most solemn oath and bond was exacted as an assurance of
the due execution of the duties of the commission. The
efforts of the Congress to escape the dexterity of the coun-
terfeiters, were of but little avail ; and their Provincial
bills of credit could only be distinguished from the coun-
terfeits by their inferiority in the mere style of mechan-
ical execution. The immediate vvants of the new govern-
ment were, however, as well supplied with the one as
the other. The slow process of redemption, the indifferent
quality of the paper on which they were executed, and
their reduced value, gradually exhausted the stock on hand,
and saved the state the expense of a heavy assumption.
One of the most important subjects before the Congress
was the defence of the Cape Fear from the military and
naval armament, hovering on the coast, and threatening to
invade the very heart of the State. The signal defeat of
the Tories, at Moore's Creek, had broken up the original
plans of Governor Martin ; and now we find the Congress
preparing, not only to sustain the advantages they had
gained, but, if possible, to defeat the disciplined forces
from the mother country. Two battalions, comprising
fifteen hundred troops, were ordered to be immediately
marched to Wilmington, under the command of Colonels
Thomas Owen * of Bladen, and Thomas Eaton f of
Bute, the former of whom, at the head of a considerable
force, was ranging in the vicinity of Wilmington. Colonel
Owen had been promoted to his present rank from that of
* May 3d. t May 13th.
266 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
a Major in the militia, to which he had been nominated
by the preceding Congress, and was, like Colonel Lilling-
ton, remarkable for his great industry in enlisting soldiers
and filling up the ranks of the army.
The seaport towns were authorized to arm one or more
vessels at the public expense, and a committee appointed
to frame a form of commission of marque and reprisals.
Provisions and funds were ordered to be immediately
sent to General Moore, who was in command at Wilming-
ton, and Colonel Long was appointed to receive General
Lee, who had been appointed to the command of the
Southern forces by the Continental Congress, and who
was daily expected in Halifax on his way to the Cape
Fear. The whole military discipline of the State was
improved, and the following officers were promoted ^ to
the rank of Brigadier-Generals in their several districts :
John Ashe, for the Wilmington District ;
Allen Jones, for the Halifax District ;
Edward Vail, for the Edenton District ;
Griffith Rutherford, for the Salisbury District;
Thomas Person, for the Hillsborough District ;
William Bryan, for the New Berne District.
The Brigadier-Generals of Halifax, Edenton, New
Berne, and Wilmington, were instructed to hasten on the
reinforcements ordered for General Moore at Wilmington ;
and, whenever they should arrive. General John Ashe
was ordered to the immediate command of the several
detachments. In the Appendix I shall notice the various
other changes made by this Congress, in the military dis-
cipline of the State.
Anticipating a tedious and doubtful campaign on the
* May 5th.
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 257
Cape Fear, the Congress ordered the emission of a larger
amount in bills of credit, than the 250,000 dollars (or
£100,000) already voted, and concluded to increase the
sum to £500,000, including the former emission ; and here
I will note the fact that the State had now emitted bills
of credit "to the amount of one million three hundred
and seventy-five thousand dollars, since the flight of the
Royal Governor on the 24th of April, 1775. The credit
of the State was pledged for the redemption of this
amount ; and. although the currency dius created was rot-
ten to the very core, yet it was the best that the exi-
gencies of the day would allow, or the ability of the
Congress could suggest.
Before this Congress, was debated the project of a civil
constitution, the form of which, was the first rough
draught of the present constitution of the State. I shall,
in a separate chapter, enter at large into an examination
of the history of the constitution, and shall here only
submit a few general observations to illustrate the pro-
ceedings of the Congress. The idea of a constitution
seemed to follow that of Independence ; and accordingly,
the day succeeding the adoption of the resolution in favor
of a Declaration, a committee was appointed to prepare
a temporary civil consUtution.* On Saturday, the 27th
of April, certain resolutions, which the committee recom-
mended as the foundation of a constitution, were debated,
and on the succeeding 30th. in consequence of some
important considerations, the project of a constitution was
abandoned, and a new committee appointed " to form a
temporary form of government until the end of the next
Congress." f
* April 13th. t Journal of the Congress.
22*
258 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
On the lllh of May, this new committee reported a
series of resolutions, proposing to abolish the Provincial
Council and the District Committees of Safety, and to
erect in their stead a State Council of Safety. The
powers proposed to be bestowed upon the new Council
were of the same order with those entrusted to its pre-
decessor, but the new project was adopted as the simplest
form of government. But the whole proceeding was of
a party nature ; for there were, even at this early period
of the existence of the Whig government, two rival fac-
tions, contending for supremacy and power ; and I shall,
in the chapter on the Constitution, freely and impartially
discuss their conduct, not more as an historian than as a
politician, [n electing the members of the Council of
Safety, the Congress selected one for the State at large,
and each District two, thus composing a body of thirteen.
They were,
Willie Jones, for the State.
Cornelius Harnett, ") WiJviingtonThova^^ Eaton, ) Halifax
Samuel Ashe, ) District. Joseph John Williams, 5 District.
James Coor, ■)JVcic ^erne Thomas Person, } Hillsboro'
John Simpson, 5 District. John Rand, 5 District.
Thomas Jones, 5 Edenton Hezekiah Alexander, > Salishiry
Whitmell Hill, > District. William Sharpe, 5 District.
In the deliberations of the Council of Safety each
District was entitled to one vote, and this mode of de-
termining questions seems to have been more generally
adopted in North Carolina than any other State. The
Congress, the old Council, and now the Council of Safety,
all voted upon the principle that the territory of the State,
and not the people, was the essence of representation.
It is impossible, and would be uninteresting, to give a
more minute detail of the proceedings of this Congress.
The procurement of gunpowder and other muniments of
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 259
war, the judgment and punishment of Tories, and an
immense quantity of private business, occupied the time
and consideration of the members, and extended the
session to the 14th of May. On that day the Congress
adjourned, after a session of five weeks, leaving behind
but litde unfinished business save the project of a civil
constitution.
But in the mean time, the military and naval armament
under the command of Sir Peter Parker, had arrived in
the Cape Fear ; ^ and this important intelligence reached
Halifax during the session of the Congress. The whole
Royal force in the Colony was now under the Immediate
command of Major General Clinton, who had been a
companion of Governor Martin's, on board the ship of
war Crulzer, for more than a month, awaiting the arrival
of the armament which had been detained in Ireland,
receiving the troops ordered to America. General Clin-
ton had travelled from New York along the seaport towns
to Cape Fear, and had spent some time with Lord Dun-
more, Governor of Virginia, in the midst of his engage-
ment with General Howe of North Carolina. He had
had time and opportunity to learn and observe the actual
condition of the Colony, the opinions of the people, and
the military policy of the Congress, and to have bene-
fited by the conversation and experience of Governor
Martin. His head-quarters were, however, so closely
besieged by the Provincial troops, that the land forces
were detained on board the fleet, which was anchored
off the plantation of General Howe, near Fort Johnston.
^ The first vessels of this armament arrived off Cape Fear on the
18th of April. The whole force of Sir Peter comprised thirty-six
ships.
260 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
The recolleciion of the lion-hearted proprietor, and the
defeat of I^ord Dunmore, probahly induced the exception
in the followini:; proclamation, which I consider the high-
est conijiliment ihat could have been rendered to the
valor and pairiolism of Harnett and Howe.
" Bij Major General Clinton, Commander of his Majesty's Forces in
the Southern Provinces in North Jlmerica,
'' A Proclamation.
« Whereas the most unprovoked and wicked rebellion has for some
time past prevailed, and doth now exist within his Majesty's pro-
vince of North Carolina, and the inhabitants (forgetting their alle-
giance to their Sovereign, and denying the authority of the laws and
statutes of the realm,) have, in a succession of crimes, proceeded
to the total subversion of all lawful authority, usurping the powers
of government, and erecting a tyranny in the hands of Congresses
and Committees of various denominations, utterly unknown and
repugnant to the British Constitution ; and divers people, in avowed
defiance to all legal authority, are now actually in arms, waging
unnatural war against their King ; and whereas all attempts to re-
claim the infatuated and misguided multitude to a sense of their
error have unhappily proved ineffectual : —I have it in command to
proceed forthwith against all such men, or bodies of men, in arms,
and acrainst all Congresses and Committees thus unlawfully estab-
lished as against open enemies to the State. But, considering it a
duty inseparable from the principle of humanity, first of all to fore-
warn the deluded People of the miseries ever attendant upon civil
war I do most earnestly entreat, and exhort them, as they tender
their own happiness, and that of their posterity, to appease the
veno-eance of an injured and justly incensed nation, by a return to
their duty, to our common Sovereign, and to the blessings of a free
government, as established by law ; hereby offering in his Majesty's
name, free pardon to all such as shall lay down their arms, and sub-
mit to the laws, excepting only from the benefit of such pardon,
Cornelius Harnett and Robert Howe. And I do hereby require,
that the Provincial Congress, and all Committees of Safety, and
other unlawful associations, be dissolved, and the judges allowed
to hold their courts according to the laws and Constitution of this
Province ; of which all persons are required to take notice, as they
will answer the contrary at their utmost peril.
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 261
" Given on board the Pallas transport, in Cape Fear River, in the
Province of North Carolina, the 5th day of May, 1776, and in
the ICth year of His Majesty's Reign.
" H. CLINTON.
" By Command of General Clinton.
'< Richard Reave, Secretary.
" To the Magistrates of the Province of North Carolina, to be by
them ma(le public."
Intent upon revenging on General Howe, the defeat of
Lord Dunmore, General Clinton determined to ravage
his plantation ; and accordingly, in the afternoon of the
12th of May, he landed a body of nine hundred troops,
assisted in command by Lord Cornwallis.* The sentry
guard, that had been posted to watch the movements of
the fleet, collected their horses and drove off the cattle ;
and, while the enemy was marching over the causew^ay
from the river to the dwelling-house, a portion of the
sentry guard maintained a steady fire, killing one many
wounding several others, and taking a sergeant of the
thirty-third regiment prisoner.f The two British generals
surrounded the mansion, and murdered three women
whom they found concealed in the chambers of the
house. Having thus satiated and glutted his revenge,
the victorious Clinton advanced towards Ostin's Mills,
at which place a heavy quantity of military stores and
provisions was deposited, under the guard of Major
Davis, at the head of a detachment of militia. Timely
intelligence of his approach however was received, and
the stores and provisions were quietly moved off, and
the mills and the empty out-houses left at the mercy of
the invaders. The establishment was fired, and the two
Generals returned to their fleet with no other advantage
than " three horses and two cows." J
* Martin, Vol. II, p. 390. t Ibid. p. 391.
X Ibid. The British authorities say, " with twenty bullocks."
262 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
The battle of Moore's Creek had not only abridged
the ranks, but extinguished the enthusiasm of the Loyal-
ists. The concerted schemes of Governor Martin could
not be executed even by the disciplined army, surround-
ed as he was by Generals Moore and Ashe, two of the
most vigilant officers of the Province. Colonels Owen
and Lillington, too, were in the vicinity of Wilmington,
watching the movements of the enemy, and guarding the
Tories from the dangerous company of Governor Martin.
General Clinton thus found himself most effectually sur-
rounded, and even the energy of his splendid army
paralyzed, by the industry, vigilance, and courage of his
undisciplined rivals. Unacquainted with the country, and
not confident of the ability of Governor Martin to manage
a military campaign, he seemed afraid to undertake a
more extensive operation than the sacking of a private
mansion, and the brutal murder of defenceless women.
General Howe was not on the field, nor in the immediate
vicinity of his plantation, when Clinton and Cornwallis
made the attack. He was in the more northern section
of the State, filling up die ranks of his regiment, and pre-
paring for the northern campaign in the Continental
service.
The vigilance of the Provincial forces prevented all
communication between the Loyalists and the fleet, and
thus soon reduced the army of Clinton to distress for want
of provisions. The vanity of Martin had induced him
to misrepresent the real state of affairs, and to exagger-
ate his own power and popularity. The friendly assistance
which he had promised from the people of the country,
never arrived, and the troops were for several days sup-
plied with no other food, than that of horse-flesh. The
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 263
project of subduing North Carolina, and of restoring
Governor Martin to his authority and his palace, was
abandoned ; and on the 1st of June, 1776, the armament
left the shores of the Cape Fear and of the State. Thus
failed the campaign of General Clinton, and with it even
the hopes-of the Tories of North Carolina. Defeated by
General Howe in his efforts to give Lord Dunmore a
hold on the Albemarle shore, his allies among the people
entirely routed by Lillington at Moore's creek, and now
himself discomfited and distressed at the head of a nu-
merous and disciplined army, he left the Cape Fear for
Charleston.
The fleet anchored off the coast of South Carolina
early in the month of June,* and in a few days General
Lee, at the head of the North Carolina and Viiginia
troops, arrived in Charleston. It had been the good for-
tune of General Lee to meet General Clinton in New
York, Virginia, and North Carolina, and to observe the
scheme of his operations. He now commanded a large
detachment of the troops of North Carolina, and among
them the Company of General John Ashe ; and these sol-
diers were inspired with additional zeal from the recollec-
tion that they were warring against their old enemy, f whom
they had so recendy discomfited in their own country.
Thus animated they contributed much to the defeat of
the armament before Charleston, and to the total and
complete overthrow of the efforts of the Ministry to sub-
jugate the Southern country.
There was one branch of the schemes of Governor
Martin and General Clinton, which, although not connect-
* The fleet sailed from the Cape Fear on the 1st of June, arrived
off Charleston on the 4th, and entered the harbour on the 7th.
t Governor Martin was on board the fleet of Sir Peter Parker.
264 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
ed immediately with North Carolina, yet deserves to be
mentioned as illustrative of the character of General
Griffith Rutherford, one of the bravest officers in the ar-
my of the State. In connexion with the Governor of East
Florida, a plan had been formed to engage the Indians
in the war against the Southern States ; and the plot so
far succeeded, that, on the very day the British fleet at-
tacked the fort of Charleston, the Cherokees made war
upon the frontier setdements of South Carohna. With
a view to conquer these blood-thirsty savages. General
Rutherford, in the early part of July, crossed the moun-
tains,"^ at the head of a body of nineteen hundred men,
and penetrated into the present State of Tennessee, then
a portion of North Carolina. After various successful
skirmishes, he succeeded in reducing them ; and, ranging
through their settlements, he laid waste their plantations
and villages, and thus effectually restored peace and
safety to the frontiers. Griffith Rutherford was one of
the most decided and energetic Whigs of that day, and
was perhaps the most conspicuous and serviceable officer
in the w^estern secdon of the State. The present county
of Rutherford was thus named in honor of him ; and the
old people of the State speak of him in the most enthusi-
astic terms, as a brave and honorable man.
* Martin, Vol. 11, p. 393.
CHAPTER XII.
. THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
(continued.)
In the preceding chapter I have conducted the reader
to the period of the conclusion of this history, viz. the
4th of July, 1776. The expedition of General Ruther-
ford filled up the month of July; and I shall now return
to notice the progress of the Council of Safety, the new
executive of the Province, and in the course of this duty
I shall introduce a few interesting extracts from their
Journal, on the important subject of Independence. This
body met for the first time in Wilmington, on the 5th of
June, and again elected Cornelius Harnett, President,
James Glascow and James Green, Jr., Secretaries. On
the 6th of June,
" General Ashe informed the Council, that there were a numher
of outlying malcontents in the county of Bladen, who were de-
sirous of returning home and submitting to the Council ; and it was
agreed, that all such persons concerned in the late insurrection, that
should take an oath before the Chairman of the County or Town
Committee, to submit to such order and regulation as might be
made by the government of the Colony, and that, when required,
they would take up arms in defence thereof, might return to the
peaceable enjoyment of their habitations."
The party warfare, between the Tories and tho Whigs,
was waged with the most deadly ferocity in both North
and South Carolina. After the defeat of McDonald, the
loyalists found no mercy at the hands of their victors, ex-
cept in the clemency of the Congress or the Council.
23
266 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
The leading and most respectable Whigs were divided in
opinion as to the propriety of so rigorous a punishment ;
but the militia companies, when once under arms, sought
no other warfare than the absolute subjugation of their
traitorous neighbours. In a contest like that of the revo-
lution of North Carolina, where the people had called for
a Declaration of Independence, and where the stake in
question was the freedom of America, I can readily
justify the severity and even the ferocity of the civil war.
The Whigs, however, did nothing more than retaliate, on
their rivals, the many high-handed outrages committed on
them. W^hile the royal power was supported by the
presence and authority of a Governor, and even after the
flight of Martin, and while the invincible armament was
expected in the Cape Fear, they committed similar ex-
cesses under the high hope and expectation of a speedy
and complete triumph.
In concluding the subject of the Tory war, I shall
pause for a few moments to notice the character and ser-
vices of Colonel Ebenezer Folsome, the most violent Whig
partizan in North Carolina, or perhaps even in the United
Colonies. He lived in Cumberland, in the very midst of
the Tories. At an eai-ly period of the struggle he had
collected together a body of horsemen, and commenced
on his own responsibility a regular Feudal war, ravaging
the plantations of the loyalists, and frequently, perhaps,
gratifying his own private revenge. The last Congress
had elected him Colonel of the militia of Cumberland,
and about the 1st of June I find him at the head of a
hundred horsemen and a detachment of infantry, ranging
through the upper counties of the Cape Fear, and carry-
ing the war to the very fire-sides of the Tories. He soon
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 267
became a favorite with the Council of Safety and the
adjacent County Committee, on account of his strict and
willing obedience of their orders ; and accordingly we find,
that he is always employed on the most dangerous ad-
ventures. The name of John Piles is equally famous in
North Carolina as a violent and powerful Tory, command-
ing the sympathies of a nun)ber of the Scotch and other
loyalists. On the 15th of June, Colonel Folsome agreed
with the Council to catch or conquer the Tory leader and
all his family ; and accordingly selected a strong guard
from his cavalry, and ranged through the present counties
of Chatham, Moore, and Cumberland. He ultimately
succeeded in meeting him at the house of Farquard
Campbell, where he seemed to be enjoying, not only the
hospitality, but the political confidence of his host. The
Colonel seized John Piles and his son, and bore them
off in triumph ; and in the lapse of a few months we find
him again at the same house, seizing and carrying off the
hospitable Farquard* himself. In such adventures he was
the most successful hero of whom I have heard, in my
various researches into the Tory war. The great number
of loyalists in Cumberland had prevented the operations
of the old County Committee ; and, that efficient depart-
ment of the Whig government having dwindled away,
Colonel Folsome found himself at the head of affairs,
and woe unto that man who should doubt for a moment
the integrity of the great American cause, or the suprema-
cy of the Congress and Council. He however abused
his trust, and was, during the succeeding year, tried for
the common crime of usurpation and abuse of power,
* Letter of Samuel Ashe to John Williams, of date the 12th of
January, 1777.
268 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
The question of a National Declaration of Indepen-
dence, which had been first urged by North Carolina, and
afterwards by Virginia, was introduced into the Continental
Congress on the 27th of May, and finally consummated on
the 4th of July, 1776. In my sketch of the character of
William Hooper, I shall notice the proceedings of that
body ; in this place I shall only observe, that, during the
agitation of that question, the people of North Carolina
were eagerly watching the signs of the times, and praying
for the success of that great and glorious measure. They
had, at various periods, in separate conventions, urged it
upon the consideration of their fellow-citizens. The
people of Mecklenburg had declared themselves free ; and,
on the preceding 12th of April, the Provincial Congress
had repeated and ratified their decree.
On the 22d of July the news of the Declaration of In-
dependence reached Halifax ; and, the Council of Safety
being in session in that place, the following resolution was
unanimously adopted.
" Resolved, that the Committees of the respective
counties and towns in this state, on receiving the Declara-
tion of Independence, do cause the same to be proclaimed
in the most public manner, in order that the good people
of this colony may be fully informed thereof."
On the 25th of July the Council proceeded to change
the test oath ; and the preamble of the resolution states,
that the Colonies were now free and independent States,
and that all allegiance to the British Crown was for ever
at an end. On the 27th of the same month the Council
set apart Thursday, the first of August, as a day for
proclaiming the Declaration at the Court House in Halifax ;
and the freeholders and inhabitants of the county were
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 269
requested to give their attendance at the time and place.
On the appointed day an immense concourse of people
assembled at Halifax to witness the interesting ceremony
of a public proclamation of the Declaration of Indepen-
dence. The Provincial troops and militia companies
v^^ere all drawn up in full array, to witness the scene and
to swear by their united acclamations to consummate the
deed. At mid-day Cornelius Harnett ascended a rostrum
which had been erected in front of the Court House,
and even as he opened the scroll, upon which was written
the immortal words of the Declaration, the enthusiasm of
the immense crowd broke forth in one loud swell of re-
joicing and prayer. The reader proceeded to his task,
and read the Declaration to the mute and impassioned
multitude with the solemnity of an appeal to Heaven.
When he had finished, all the people shouted with joy,
and the cannon, sounding from fort to fort, proclaimed
the glorious tidings, that all the Thirteen Colonies were
now free and independent States. The soldiers seized
]\Ir. Harnett, and bore him on their shoulders through the
streets of the town, applauding him as iheir champion, and
swearing allegiance to the instrument he had read.*
The resolution of the Council of Safety, ordering the
several Committees to have the Declaration proclaimed to
the people in the most public manner, was not observed
in Cumberland ; and, on the 6ih of August, Colonel Fol-
some and Colonel David Smith were authorized to call a
* I received the account of this ceremony from a pious and
elderly lady, who was present on the occasion, and whose friend-
ship and acquaintance I esteem the more, because it descended to
me as an inheritance. In this place it may not be amiss to say,
that 1 have always found the details of elderly ladies, on matters of
history, more correct than those of old men.
23*
270 THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT.
general meeting of the inhabitants and to execute the
order. I have never heard any account of the ceremony
which Colonel Folsome undoubtedly instituted. The
doctrine of treason, too, as expounded by the Congress,
was ordered to be proclaimed to the people of Cumber-
land, and to the regiment stationed at Cross Creek.
1 have now arrived at the most interesting period of
our history. In the revolution of North Carolina, the
reader will observe three bold and energetic popular
movements, all progressing towards a National Declara-
tion of Independence. On the 26th of April, 1774, Wil-
liam Hooper, in a letter to James Iredell, openly avowed
that things were verging towards Independence. On the
20th of May, 1775, the people of Mecklenburg declared
themselves independent; and on the 12th of April, 1776,
the Provincial Congress instructed their delegates in the
Continental Congress to concur in a National Declaration.
These are the grand events in the history of a State,
which, according to Mr. Jefferson, sent a rank Tory to
sign, on her behalf, the Declaration of Independence. I
need not his confession, that she was not doubtful, '' that
no state was more fixed or forward," to defend North
Carolina from the malignant aspersions of his pen. I
spurn his compliments as worthless, and his praise as a
corrupt and corrupting gift. They are the conceptions
of a wicked and profligate mind, and are served up but to
gild the nauseating pill of an unprincipled political em-
piric.
I appeal to the events of the revolution in North Caro-
lina, and not to Mr. Jefferson's disclaimer, to attest the
genuineness of the Whig principles of her illustrious dead.
Virginia, although aided by Ms important services, waited
THE NEW WHIG GOVERNMENT. 271
for the example of North Carolina, to urge her on to the
great crisis of Independence ; and, long before the Sage
of Monticello had fixed his heart upon the national free-
dom of America, the question of Independence had been
mooted, discussed, and approved, by the almost unanimous
voice of the Whigs of the State.*
* The Provincial Congress of August and September, 1775,
adopted a scheme of bounties for the protection of the manufactures
of the State, which bounties were to be conferred by the Provincial
Council. Accordingly, on the 12th of September, 1776, while the
Council of Safety was in session, George Wolfendon, James Morgan,
and James Gibson offered to the Council sundry pieces of linen,
claiming the several bounties, pursuant to the resolve of the Con-
gress. The Board, after due examination, found it impossible to
come to any decision as to the relative value or excellence of the
pieces presented, and accordingly the following resolve was adopted :
" Resolved, That the Treasurers, or either of them, pay unto the
said Wolfendon, Morgan, and Gibson, the sum of twenty-three
pounds fifteen shillings each, it being their equal part of the several
bounties allowed by the Congress."
While on the subject of manufactures I will record in this note,
that, about the year 1824, an ingenious lady, of Franklin county,
wove on her own loom a shirt without seams.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE CONSTITUTION OF NORTH CAROLINA.
The first step towards the formation of the Constitu-
tion of North Carolina was made on the loth of April,
1776 ; and this seems to have been the result of the
deliberation of the Convention on the subject of Indepen-
dence. The idea oi a Constitution naturally followed that
of National Independence ; and, the Congress of North
Carolina having recommended a Declaration to that
effect on the i2tli, the adoption of the principles of a
solid, well-regulated government, formed the next most
important subject for their consideration. Accordingly
on the 13th, Samuel Johnston, the President of the Con-
o-ress, Abner Nash, Cornelius Harnett, Thomas Jones,
Green Hill, Governor Burke, Allen Jones, Mr. Locke,
Mr. Blount, Mr. Rand, John Johnston, Samuel Ashe,
Mr. Kinchin, Samuel Spencer, Mr. Haywood, Mr.
Richardson, Mr. Bradford, Mr. Ramsay, and Thomas
Person, were appointed a Committee * to prepare a civil
Constitution. To this committee John Penn and William
Hooper were added ; and before this body, thus complet-
ed, was fought one of the most desperate party batdes
to be recorded in the civil history of the State. The
transition from a monarchical to a republican form of
government was almost too gradual and easy to be per-
* On the 13th of April, 1776.— MS. Journal.
THE CONSTITUTION OF NORTH CAROLINA. 273
ceived, but the project of a total abandonment of the
conservative principles of the British Constitution, pro-
duced one of those violent political throes, which have
so often stained with blood the career of revolutions.
The Whig party of North Carolina was, at this crisis,
convulsed, by this distracting question. The most im-
portant characters of the Provincial Congress were divid-
ed in opinion as to the principles of the new government ;
and each obstinately conceived the safety, welfare, and
honor of the State, to depend upon the success of his
favorite schemes.
From the members of the committee, I select the
names of Samuel Johnston and Allen Jones, as the lead-
ers of the conservative party. They had made immense
sacrifices in the cause of the revolution. Samuel Johns-
ton had succeeded John Harvey, in the control of the
Whig party. He had published under his own name
an order for the election of the Congress of August,
1775 ; and had thrown himself forward in every crisis,
as the civil head of the State. He had shrunk from no
responsibility however heavy, from the performance of
no duty however perilous, in the cause of the American
revolution. His mind, his body, and his purse were at
the service of his country ; and these resources he poured
forth with all the profusion of a spendthrift. It is impos-
sible to doubt the patriotism of such a man.
But when the reckless proposition to abolish even the
very elements of the British Constitution, and to substitute
in their stead the incoherent principles of a democracy,
was gravely urged by a majority of the committee, he
shrunk from it as from the most deadly contagion. He
was an ardent lover of freedom and of the national
274 THE CONSTITUTION OF
Independence of America, but he was no believer in the
infallibility of the popular voice. He had seen the rights
of the Colonies violated, not so much the rights of persons
but the right of property, and against this usurpation he
had zealously warred. The vagrant principle of universal
suffrage, the popular election of Judges, and the despica-
ble dependence of authority upon the will of the people
at large, were never heard of in the revolution of North
Carolina, until the demngogues of the Whig party started
on their career of popularity.
But Governor Johnston was not a man of that pliable
and irresolute character, that bends to every passing gale.
He did not surrender the honest convictions of his mind
to the mere majority of individuals, nor compromise the
splendid uniformity of his political character to propitiate
the clamor of the soldiery. He was the honest advocate
of a government of energy and of power, erected upon the
most solid foundations. The restriction of the right of
suffrage in all popular elections, the inviolable independ-
ence of the Judiciary, the permanence and respectability
of office, and the most perfect security of property and all
vested rights, constituted his conception of the elements
of a good government. " Wise or fortunate is the man,"
who builds his own reputation as a statesman, upon the
imperishable rock of such principles. The lovers of
constitutional freedom will recur to him as their founder,
and " fiercely chasfise the guilt or folly of the rebels who
shall presume to sully the majesty of" his name.
Against this conservative party was opposed all the
radicalism which had gathered around the ball of the
revolution, which had now been rolling in North Carolina
for more than two years. While its progress and direc-
NORTH CAROLINA. 275
tion were controlled by Governor Johnston, its career
was one of principle ; but now the growing strength of the
people, and the arts of designing and ambitious men were
endeavouring to impart a force, which instead of moving
it forward, would have broken it into atoms, and perhaps
have annihilated it for ever.
1 pretend not to scrutinize the motives of politicians,
more especially of those who have passed from the stage of
life, and whose actions are obscured by the distance of
more than half a century ; but that the leaders of the Whig
party in North Carolina were actuated by different mo-
tives, and eagerly intent on different and conflicting re-
sults, is too obvious to be concealed. With many of the
most eminent and zealous, such as Willie Jones and
Thomas Person, the establishment of a democracy was an
object of superior importance to the Independence of the
country. Without the hope of consummating this dar-
ling project, their zeal would have abated, and even the
independence of the country have been surrendered, as
not worth a struggle, when the certainty of an American
aristocracy was before them. But a very different, and
I must say a much nobler motive animated the bosom of
Samuel Johnston and his conservative friends, in their
zealous support of the American cause. The national
Independence of their country was the very and the only
element of their political enthusiasm. They did not look
beyond it, and discover in the form of the government
which they knew would be established, any principles of
superior or even of equal magnitude. Their predilec-
tions were in favor of a splendid government, representing
the property of the people, and thus giving by its own
independence and splendor a high character of dignity to
276 THE CONSTITUTION OF
the State. But all schemes or forms of government
were as nothing when compared with the national Inde-
pendence of America ; and with the achievement of this
grand object they were prepared for either a monarchy,
an aristocracy, or any other form of government except
a wild and uncontrolled democracy.
The Radicals contended with much show of reason,
that the success of the revolution depended upon the
adoption of a purely democratic form of government,
and that the hope of such a thing was the sole cause
of the enthusiasm of the lower orders of the people. The
restriction of the right of suffrage which had prevailed in
the Whig government, it was contended, had given the
Tories an opportunity of seducing the non-freeholders to
their interest, and that an extension of that most delicate
and important right, to every " hiped " of the forest, was
the surest means of uniting the voice of the people.
The vain hope, that even the dependent Highlanders of
the Cape Fear would, if the prerogative of citizenship
were conferred, desert from the standard of their chieftain,
was encouraged ; and that thus the war could be con-
ducted with greater energy by the combined strength of
the State. The coffers of the treasury were empty, and
the only means of arousing and keeping alive the warlike
spirit of the lower orders, was by conferring the highest
political privileges.
Upon the vital question, then, of enfranchising the lower
order of the people, and upon the propriety of a splendid
government, the Conservatives and the Radicals were
divided ; and In the ranks of both of those parties were
found many of the most enlightened and patriotic cidzens
of the State. On the question of Independence, which
NORTH CAROLINA. 277
was settled by the unanimous voice of the Congress, on
the day before the appointment of the committee to form
a civil Constitution, there was no division ; and, with the
settlement of that more important point, the two rival
parties started up into an active existence. Independ-
ence had been so much talked of and so often acted upon
in North Carolina, that it was considered throughout the
State, as the peculiar subject of the deliberation of the
Provincial Congress ; and the members assembled in
Halifax predetermined to sanction and recommend, the
propriety of a National declaration. On the 5th of April,
the day after the meeting of the Congress, Mr. Johnston
wrote to James Iredell, and after touching on the case
of General McDonald, he said, — " All our people here
are up for independence. God knows when I shall have
the pleasure of seeing you ; there are very few among us
capable of forwarding business, many of retarding it." On
the 13th of April he again wrote to Mr. Iredell, and con-
cluded his letter in the following words, — " The House
have agreed to impower their Delegates at Philadelphia to
concur with the other colonies in entering into foreign alli-
ances and in declaring an independence of Great Britain.
I cannot be more particular ; this is written in Congress.
My love and compliments where due ; farewell."
I shall draw from the same correspondence my materials
in detailing the proceedings of the Committee ; and now
present an extract from a letter, of date the 17th of April.
The Committee had been in session for only four days,
and thus early Governor Johnston found himself in a
minority. The letter says, — "I must confess our pros-
pects are at this time very gloomy ; our people are about
forming a Constitution, and from what I can at present
24
278 THE CONSTITUTION OF
collect of their plan, it will be impossible from me to take
any part in the execution of it. Numbers have started
on the race of popularity, and condescend to the usual
means of success."
The Radicals found themselves in a majority in the
Committee, and about the ISlh or 19th of the month of
April,^ it was resolved " to establish a purely democratic
form of government." The dissatisfaction of Governor
Johnston is obvious from the tone of his letters ; and the
concluding sentence of the one last submitted, points
plainly to the cause of his discomfiture. He was how-
ever a man of too much independence of opinion, and
of too much influence in the State, to give up without a
farther struggle so important a question as the character
of the government, under w^hich he expected to live.
The Radicals perceived at once the danger of alienating
so important a personage from the interest of the new
government ; and, although they sapiently assumed to
themselves the name of orthodox in politics, yet they
prudently consented to make terms with their defeated
rival.
While this violent schism in the Whig party was hang-
ing over the fate of the American cause in North Caro-
lina, Thomas Jones, of Edenton, a personal friend of
Governor Johnston and a cunning and ingenious poh-
tician, interceded and appeased the rage of the contend-
ing factions. He was in truth more of a conservative
than his friend ; but, perceiving the strength of the Radi-
cals, he had avoided the issue which Governor Johnston
had the independence openly to confront. I have a
* Letter of Judge John Williams to Judge Henderson, of date the
28th of April, 1776.
NORTH CAROLINA. 279
mere note or billet of his to Johnston, dated the 19th of
April, upon which I predicate this view of his character.
In that paper he informs the Governor that he had adjust-
ed the disagreeable difficulty, which had interrupted the
harmony of the Committee ; and then invited him to
meet with ,the other members at his room on the evening
of its date.
The tone of Governor Johnston's letters to Mr. Iredell
changes from this date ; and on the very next day we
find him busily engaged in the consideration of the details
of the new government. The compromise seems to have
been so far satisfactory as to have overcome the almost
insuperable objections of the Governor ; although it is
obvious from many articles in the present Constitution,
that the Radicals yielded much to gain the important
service of his cooperation. I here present his letter, of
date the 20th of April, which, it will be seen, is written
with much good humor.
"From Samuel Johnston to James Iredell.
" Halifax, 20th of April, 1776.
'' Dear Sir,
" We have not yet been able to agree on a Constitution. We
have a meeting on it every evening, but can conclude on nothing.
The great difficulty in our way is, how to establish a check on the
Representatives of the people, to prevent their assuming more power
than would be consistent with the liberties of the people ', such
as increasing the time of their duration and such like. Many
projects have been proposed too tedious for a letter to communicate.
Some have proposed that we should take up the plan of the Con-
necticut Constitution for a ground-work, but with some amend-
ments ; such as that all the great officers, instead of being elected
by the people at large, should be appointed by the Assembly; but
that the Judges of our Courts should hold their offices during good
behaviour. After all, it appears to me, that there can be no check
on the Representatives of the people in a democracy, but the people
280 THE CONSTITUTION OF
themselves ; and in order that the check may be more efficient I
would have annual elections. The Congress have raised four new
regiments, making in the whole six, and three companies of light
horse. They are about striking a large sum of money for paying
them. General Lee promises us a visit soon. I want much to see
that original."
The rest of this letter relates to domestic concerns,
which would >be uninteresting to the reader. The ap-
prehension that no substantial check could be established
for the control of the Legislature has been fully realized
in the history of many of the States. The Reports of the
Supreme Court of the United States are adorned with
innumerable cases, in which the learning and patriotism
of the Judges are invoked, to check the vagrancy of State
legislation. Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia, have each in their turn
reared the crest to the arbitrament of an independent
judiciary ; but North Carolina, quietly avoiding the path
of the Federal Government, has submitted in all doubtful
cases to the correction of her own courts.
The civil Constitution was however completed by the
25di of April, and was on that day laid before the Con-
gress. "On motion, Resolved, That the temporary civil
Constitution be taken under consideration to-morrow
morning." "^
On the next day accordingly, the order of the day
being read, " Resolved,-\ The House resolve itself into
a committee of the whole House, to take into considera-
tion certain resolutions, proposed as a foundation for a
temporary civil Constitution. The House resolved itself
into a committee of the whole House accordingly, and
* Thursday, 25th of April. — MS. Journal.
t MS. Journal, 26th of April.
NORTH CAROLINA. 281
chose William Gumming, Esq., Chairman, and, after some
time spent therein, Mr. President resumed the chair and
Mr. Chairman reported the several resolutions, which
were ordered to lie over until Monday."
On Monday the subject was again postponed until
the next day, when the Committee of the Constitution
was dissolved, and all hope of the establishment of a
permanent government by that Congress abandoned.
This conclusion seems to have been exceedingly gratify-
ing to Mr. Johnston, who on the 2d of May wrote the fol-
lowing letter to Mr. Iredell.
" Halifax, 2d May, 1776.
" Dear Sir,
" Affairs have taken a turn within a few days past. All ideas
of forming a permanent Constitution are at this time laid aside.
It is now proposed for the present to establish a Council to sit
constantly, and County Committees to sit at certain fixed periods,
but nothing is concluded. We find it necessary to emit a very large
sum of paper money at the present emergency ; a circumstance
which gives me more concern than any thing else, and yet it seems
unavoidable. You can easily see the evils attending this measure.
I am pretty well this morning, and have leave to be absent from the
service of the House in order to prepare my public accounts for
a settlement.* Allen Jones is Vice-President."
On the 30th of April, Governor Burke, Samuel Ashe,
Richard Caswell, Mr. Hooper, Mr. Penn, Abner Nash,
Mr. Kinchin, Thomas Jones, and Mr. Coor, were ap-
pointed a committee to propose " a temporary form of
government until the end of the next Congress." The
Radicals contrived not only to exclude Governor Johns-
* Mr. Johnston was the Treasurer of the Northern District,
and was more celebrated as a skilful financier than any other citi-
zen of the State. In the performance of this delicate trust he con's
tributed the most important services to his country.
24*
282 THE CONSTITUTION OF
ton from this committee, but from a seat in the Council of
Safety which was instituted by the Congress on the 11th
of May. Tiieir inveterate opposition was continued even
after the adjournment of the Congress ; and many, even
of the most respectable of the Whigs, professed to doubt
the sincerity of his attachment to the American cause.
" The rancor of opposition," however, secured him " the
idolatry of love " ; and the firmness with which he was
supported by his conservative friends, soon gave him an
important influence in a general arrangement of the party.
The Council of Safety, for no other reason than that he
was not elected a member of that board, (as he had been
a member of the former Council,) looked upon him as
their most deadly enemy ; and professed to view his
defeat as a signal instance of the displeasure of the Con-
gress. Their excessive dread of his power among the
people of the State at large, forced them to respect him
in their public capacity ; but the private letters of that
day exhibit a well-concerted scheme of intrigue, to ruin
his character as a patriot and statesman.
On the 9th of August, 1776, while the Council of
Safety was in session, the subject of the Constitution was
introduced in connexion with that of Independence ; and
it was solemnly recommended to the people of North
Carolina, to pay the greatest attention to the election of
members of Congress on the 1 5th of October ; and to
have particularly in view the important consideration, that
it would be the business of the Congress not only to make
laws, but also to form a Constitution, " which as it was
the corner-stone of all law, so it ought to be fixed and
permanent ; and that according as it was well or ill
ordered, it would tend in the first degree to promote the
NORTH CAROLINA 283
happiness or misery of the State." * It was likewise
recommended to the people to elect five delegates prop-
erly qualified to sit and vote in the Congress, as business
of the last importance would undoubtedly come before
them.
I have never understood the reason of this urgent
recommendation of the Council of Safety. Ever since
the first Provincial Congress, in August, 1774, the elec-
tions of the leading members had been conducted with-
out even the apprehension of opposition. The public
good required their aid and presence in the deliberations
of the Congress, and the people biennally acknowledged
the merit of their services by a general reelection. But
the Council of Safety now issues a solemn warning to
the people of the Slate, as if there was some doubtfulness
in the camp of the Whig party, and concludes by an
indefinite allusion to business of the last importance. The
whole force and energy of the Radical party of the
State, was directed to the single object of defeating
Samuel Johnston in the Chowan election ; and I con-
demn this recommendation of the Council as a mere
instrument of party warfare. The subject of a Constitu-
tion, now that the question of Independence was settled
by a National Declaration, was more prominently before
the people than any other question ; and, as it had been
discussed in the previous Congress, the people could
scarcely have forgotten its importance. The idea was
constantly put forth, that the Conservatives were intent
on the erection of a system of government adverse to
the liberty of the people, and that they were in reality
the advocates of a monarchy. By such rumors the
* MS. Journal.
284 THE CONSTITUTION OF
Radicals, abetted by the Council of Safety, endeavoured
to alarm the minds of the people, and to destroy the
influence and power of the President of the Congress.
The obtuse perception of the Radicals refused to
acknowledge that there was any intermediate ground,
between themselves and the advocates of a monarchy,
upon which the people could erect the basis of their
newly acquired freedom. The dangerous heresies of
universal equality, and of an agrarian law, were better
suited to their comprehension, than the encouragement
of morality and industry, by the security of property and
the maintenance of the natural divisions of society. In
their intense hatred of England, they lost sight of the
virtue and excellence of many of the principles of the
Brhish Constitution ; and, in abjuring all allegiance to
the sovereign, they ventured to include all respect for
the most venerable monument of freedom that the world
had ever seen. But the wisdom and prudence of Mr.
Johnston could not second so heedless a career. De-
spising, as deeply as could the most zealous Radical, the
usurpations of King George, upon the property of the
people of America, and acknowledging the utter impos-
sibility and inexpediency of any thing like a monarchical
form of government, he nevertheless earnestly insisted on
the dangers of an irresponsible legislature, representing,
not the property, but the mere will of the people. The
amount of property which a merchant may own in a ship
at sea, is the best ratio by which to compute the degree
of his anxiety for her safety and success ; and the same
principle might be successfully applied, in the composition
of the government of a State. The principle that all
men are by nature free and equal is true, because, like
NORTH CAROLINA. 2S5
a thousand other maxims, no one thinks it worth a refuta-
tion or qualification ; but the statesman, who shall under-
take to build up a government upon such a foundation,
will find even his own learning, integrity, humanity, and
property poized at the polls, by the bought suffrage of
a menial slave.
The Radicals, however, gained the object of their
strife, and Mr. Johnston was not returned a member
from Chowan at die election on the 15th of October.
I do not know that he actually canvassed for the elec-
tion, for he had perceived and acknowledged the growing
strength of his antagonists, and may probably have pru-
dently declined the contest. The Congress assembled
at Halifax on die 12th of November, and, at the instance
of Allen Jones, Richard Caswell was elected President.
On the second day of the session, Mr. President Cas-
well, Thomas Person, Allen Jones, John Ashe, Abner
Nash, Willie Jones, Thomas Jones, Mr. Bright, Mr.
Neale, Samuel Ashe, Mr. Haywood, General Ruther-
ford, Mr. Abbot, Luke Sumner, Thomas Respiss, Jun.,
Mr. Maclaine, Mr. Hogan, and Mr. Alexander, were ap-
pointed a Committee to form and lay before the Congress
a Bill of Rights, and form of a Constitution for the govern-
ment of the State. Mr. Hewes, Mr. Harnett, Mr. Sharpe,
Mr. Si)ear, Mr. Avery, Mr. Eaton, Mr. Birdsong, Mr. Ir-
win, Mr. Wliitmell Hill, and Mr. Coor, were subsequently
added ; and, thus completed, the Committee proceeded to
the discharge of the duty assigned them.
On the second day of the session of the Congress,
a grave question arose as to the mode of determining
questions ; and now it was proposed, as a preparatory
step to die adoption of a Constitution, that all ques-
286 THE CONSTITUTION OF
tions should, for the future, be determined by voice,
and not by counties and iowns. There was a divis-
ion on the question ; and only the following counties
and towns voted against the proposition ; — Beaufort,
Brunswick, Carteret, Chowan, Hyde, Perquimons, Pas-
quotank, Pitt, Town of Brunswick, and Town of New
Berne. The other counties and boroughs, making a
heavy majority, voted in the affirmative, and henceforth
all questions were decided by the voice of the members.
On Friday the 6th of December, Thomas Jones, from
the Committee on the Bill of Rights and the Constitution,
informed the House that the form of the Constitution
was prepared and ready for consideration. Mr. Jones
read the Constitution in his place, and then delivered it
in at the table. The secretary was ordered to employ
clerks and to have numerous transcripts ready for the
members, and the succeeding Monday was fixed upon
as the day for its consideration. On Monday the 9th,
Tuesday the 10th, and on Thursday the 12ih, it was
debated, and on the last day the subject was postponed
to Saturday the 14th, to give precedence to the Bill of
Rights which Mr. Jones that day laid before the Con-
gress. On Saturday the 14th of December, the Bill of
Rights was first debated, paragraph by paragraph, and
passed its first reading, and then the Constitution was
likewise passed. On Monday the 16th, both instruments
were again considered, but only the Bill of Rights was
passed upon, the other being deferred to Tuesday. On
Tuesday the 17th, the Bill of Rights was finally passed,
and ordered to be engrossed. The final consideration of
the Constitution was postponed to the next day, Wednesday
the 18th, when it was finally adopted as the Constitution
of North Carolina.
NORTH CAROLINA. 287
Thus were the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of
the State formed. They are said to have corae from
the pen of Thomas Jones, aided and assisted by Willie
Jones. I find in one of Governor Johnston's letters, that
he alludes to it as Jones's Constitution, and the reader
will observe that Thomas Jones was throughout the organ
of the Committee. The Constitution was the child of
the instrument which was debated before the Congress
of the preceding spring ; although much improved by
the various revisions and amendments v/hich it underwent,
before its final adoption.
Samuel Johnston, the most profound statesman in the
State, although not a member of the Congress, repaired
to Halifax on the business of the treasury, and on the
7th of December wrote the following letter to Mr. Iredell.
" Halifax, Dec. 7th, 1776.
" Dear Sir,
" I got here this afternoon, and, though I made short stages, find
myself a good deal fatigued. My health is much the same as when
I left home. God knows when there will be an end of this trifling
here. A draft of the Constitution was presented to the House
yesterday, and lies over for consideration. The members are fur-
nishing themselves with copies of it. I have had a glance of it, and
wished to send you a copy of it, but it was impossible ; perhaps
the bearer of this. Col. Dauge, may have one. As well as I can
judge from a cursory view of it, it may do as well as that adopted
by any other colony. Nothing of the kind can be good. There
is one thing in it which I cannot bear, and yet I am inclined to
think it will stand. The Inhabitants are impowered to elect the
Justices in their respective counties, who are to be the Judges of the
County Courts. Numberless inconveniences must arise from so
absurd an institution."
The rest of this letter does not refer to the Consti-
tution. On Monday the 9th of December, Mr. Johnston
again wrote to Mr. Iredell, and I submit the following
extract on the subject of this chapter.
2S8 THE CONSTITUTION OF
" Halifax, 9th Dec, 1776.
" Dear Sir,
" I wrote to you the evening after I got here, since wliich I have
been endeavouring to descern what will be done, but am as much
at a loss as ever. The Constitution is to be debated to-day, and
some talk of finishing as soon as that is agreed on ; while others
are for staying to appoint all the officers of the State, and to estab-
lish Courts of Justice. Which of these plans will take place is
uncertain. No one appears to have sufficient spirit to set them
right. I am in great pain for the honor of the Province ; at the
same time, when I consider only my own ease and peace, congratu-
late myself on being clear of any share of the trouble I must have
had, if I had been a member. Every one who has the least pre-
tensions to be a gentleman is suspected and borne down per igno-
hile vulgus, — a set of men without reading, experience, or principle
to govern them."
The character of Samuel Johnston does not need the
aid of my pen to support it, by any other means than
a mere record of the services of his life. By his wise
and magnanimous administration of the government of
the State, during the time that North Carolina was out of
the Union, the most critical period of her existence, he
secured to himself an imperishable fame ; and by his
unwearied perseverance and zeal, he procured the adop-
tion of the National Constitution, and thus gave charac-
ter, integrity, and consistency to the union of the States.
In 17SS and 1789, as in 1776, he boldly stood forth as
the uncompromising advocate of the great conservative
principle, the perfect security of property and all vested
rights from the reach of the changeable will of the peo-
ple ; and although all such statesmen must of necessity
be unpopular in democratic governments, yet such is the
effect of an independent course among an honorable
people, that Governor Johnston was honored with their
confidence by his election as first Senator from North
NORTH CAROLINA. 289
Carolina, and then to the Bench, where he might ap-
propriately and zealously support the principles he had so
long cherished.
I shall neither record, nor discuss in detail, the Bill of
Rights and the Constitution. They have been transmit-
ted to the present generation, unimpaired and without
amendment ; and are, at this period, the only instruments
of the kind formed by the sages of the Revolution, which
have come down unscathed by the hand of innovation.
Governor Johnston objected to it on account of its
^^ radicalism''^ in 1776; but in 1833, it is censured as
containing high conservative principles, inconsistent with
the proper notions of modern democracy. The old Consti-
tution of Virginia, ahhough fortified by a restriction of the
right of suffrage, was at length overthrown by the clamor
of the unrepresented class, and the same fate has been
for many years past predicted for that of North Carolina.
But, hitherto, the Constitution has withstood triumph-
antly every assault. Conventions have been proposed
to destroy it entirely, and begin anew the art of govern-
ment ; irresponsible assemblages of designing and ambi-
tious men have appealed directly to the people, without
the intervention of the Legislature, and called upon them
to vote upon the propriety of a revolution ; and bills have
been presented to the Assembly, praying that specific
amendments might be submitted to the people for ratifi-
cation ; but there is somewhere in the venerable instru-
ment the great principle of self-preservation, which has
hitherto been able to defy the craft and cunning of the
demagogue. All such schemes have failed. The cry is,
the inequality of representation ; the mere territory and
not the people of a county being the " thing " represented.
25
290 THE CONSTITUTION OF
The County of Jones, with a population of scarcely more
than three thousand, has as much influence in the State
as the County of Orange with a population of twenty-five
thousand ; and the Borough of Halifax, with scarcely
any while population at all, balances, in 'the House of
Commons, one half of any county in the State. And
yet, strange as it may seem, the history of the past will
tell us that these small counties and rotten boroughs
have contributed the most eminent and enlightened mem-
bers of the House ; and, at no very remote period, the
seven boroughs returned to the Commons seven mem-
bers, who might have been fairly estimated the first men
in the State, and who controlled by their talents alone
the whole Assembly.
This inequality of representation is an evil which should
be removed, whenever the people shall have thrown off
the " despotism of party," or shall have learnt to heed
less the rant of a Radical, than the wise and honest coun-
sel of a virtuous patriot. It is an unpropitious period for
conventions. The order of the day is change and re-
form, and the most venerable principle of the American
revolution, — the independence of the Judges, — has
already in many States been annihilated by frequent elec-
tions and variable salaries. If in the election of members
of a convention, the right of suffrage could be restricted
to the land and slave holders, instead of being extended
to every vagrant of the fields, the danger might be avoid-
ed, and the present inequality of representation, as well as
many other faults of the Constitution, be amended to the
general satisfaction of the people.
There is one feature in the Constitution of North
Carolina which deserves to be particularly mentioned, as
NORTH CAROLINA. 291
the only part which excited the enthusiasm of Sanauel
Johnston, and which reconciled him to it as the founda-
tion of a permanent government. It is the principle
upon which the Senate is constituted. To be eligible to
the Senate, a citizen must own in fee simple in the county
which he represents, not less than three hundred acres
of land, and the elector of a Senator must likewise be the
proprietor of fifty acres. Thus the Senate is emphatically
the representative of the landed interest of the State, and
to such an extent, too, as to prove an admirable shield for
the protection of property in times of general commotion
and distress. Whenever the Constitution is assailed, the
Senate is peculiarly its champion ; and the land-holders
of the State should cautiously guard every encroachment
on the integrity of an instrument, in which their rights as
well as the safety of their property are so well secured.
I shall conclude this chapter by a notice of a few of
the Ordinances passed by the Congress, as incidental
to the Constitution. The first elected Richard Caswell
Governor, Cornelius Harnett, Thomas Person, William
Dry (formerly one of the King's council), William Hay-
wood, Edward Starkey, Joseph Leech, and Thomas
Eaton members of the Council of State, and James
Glasgow, Secretary of State ; and thus the government
was organized.
Another Ordinance, which was introduced by Thomas
Jones, secured to the Church the titles of Church lands
and houses of public worship, and " quieted the proprie-
tors in the peaceable possession of the same." The
prejudice against the Church, on account of its connexion
with the Royal government, though very strong in North
Carolina as in the other States, was not sufficiently so to
292 THE CONSTITUTION OF
destroy its rights, and this Ordinance seems to have pass-
ed without opposition from any quarter. Another Ordin-
ance appointed Thomas Jones, Samuel Johnston, Archi-
bald Maclaine, James Iredell, Abner Nash, Christopher
Neale, Samuel Ashe, Waightstill Avery, Samuel Spen-
cer, Jasper Charlton, and John Penn, to review and
consider all such Statutes and Acts of Assembly as had
been or were in force in the State, and " to prepare such
Bills to be passed into Laws, as might be consistent with
the genius of a free people," and to lay them before the
next Assembly.*
* The subjoined extract from the Journal of the Congress on the
23d of December, 1776, illustrates the views of the Congress as to
the duration and inviolability of the American Union. Mr. Jones,
from the committee to take into consideration the case of Joseph
Hewes and Robert Smith, Esqrs., and to prepare a remonstrance to
the General Congress and the Assembly of Massachusetts Bay, laid
the said memorials and remonstrances before the House ; which
were read, agreed to, and are as follows :
" The Memorial of the State of North Carolina to the Delegates of
the United States of America in Congress Assembled, showeth,
" That about twelve months past, Messrs. Joseph Hewes and
Robert Smith, of Edenton, merchants, and free citizens of this State,
loaded a certain brigantine called the Joseph, under the command
of Emperor Mosely, and sent her to Cadiz, in Spain, where she was
detained until the 19th day of October by British ships of war,
which cruised off the said port. That on the 11th day of November
last, she, the said brigantine, being on her return to Edenton, with
3000 bushels of salt, a quantity of wine, Jesuits' bark, and other
articles of very considerable value, was seized and made a prize of
by a privateer belonging to Boston in the State of Massachusetts
Bay, named the Eagle, and commanded by Barzillai Smith, and said
to be the property of Elijah Freeman Paine, as by the deposition
hereunto annexed will appear.
" That the said capture appears to this State to be a direct viola-
tion of the peace and Union of the United States, and contrary to
the laws of all civilized nations in general, and to the rights of the
NORTH CAROLINA. 293
citizens of this State in particular. This State, ever watchful over
the rights of its members, expects that strict justice will be done
in the premises either by the captors or the State of Massachusetts
Bay, and have no doubt but the Delegates of the United States will
effectually interpose to have justice done injured citizens, and to
punish those atrocious violators of all law and justice, whose avarice
and rapacity, if not timely checked, cannot fail to be attended with
the most fatal consequences to the Jlmerican Union."
There was likewise a remonstrance to the State of Massachusetts
Bay, which, after stating in detail the premises, concluded as follows :
" The aforesaid capture being contrary to the law of nations, and in
direct violation of the peace and Union of the United States, and
the rights of the citizens of the State of North Carolina, the said
State expects that the State of Massachusetts Bay will cause in-
quiry to be made concerning the premises, and make effectual
provision against such violence, and also cause full restoration and
indemnification to be made to the said Joseph Hewes and Robert
Smith, for their brigantine and cargo, and the damage occasioned
by the capture aforesaid."
25*
PART II.
THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,
ON THE 20th of may, 1775.
The county of Mecklenburg, which at the time of this
Declaration included the present county of Cabarrus, lies
in the western part of the Stale of North Carolina. It
was settled by emigrants from Great Britain, many of
whom remained a few years on the shores of the Dela-
ware before their final settlement in North Carolina.
The families of the Polks and the Alexanders were
among this class ; and I believe I date the period of their
arrival in the State with sufficient exactness, when I say
it was about the year 1750. The Alexanders were
Scotch Presbyterians, and, I am inclined to think, came
to the south several years after the Polks.
The reader will observe, among the signers of the
Declaration, many of the Alexanders and one of the
Polks. The names of Brevard, Phifer, Davidson, Avery,
and indeed of all the twenty-five, are familiar to me
as genuine North Carolina families; names which are
associated with honor and valor in nearly every event
in the course of the war; and which are intimately
THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION. 295
blended with the independence of the country, not
only in the act of its conception, but still more so in
the battle-fields which gave it such triumphant success.
Whilst the Sage of Monticello was pondering on the
various projects of a reconciliation with the mother coun-
try, and never for once looking beyond " that desirable
end '■ ; while Virginia and even Massachusetts were con-
tinually avowing allegiance to the Throne ; and North
Carolina herself, through the medium of her Congress,
was declaring that independence was not her object, the
people of Mecklenburg, with the sagacity of an honest and
injured race, untutored in the craft and cunning of poli-
tics, recoiled at once on the power that oppressed them,
and dissolved for ever the unhallowed union of British
domination and American allegiance. A junto of poli-
ticians would have recommended forbearance, and point-
ed to some future and more propitious period for action ;
but in the simplicity of their hearts they appealed to the
law of nature indelibly stamped upon the human bosom,
that when power becomes tyranny, resistance is a duty
and the God of battles must decide.
Tradition ascribes to Thomas Polk the principal agen-
cy in bringing about the Declaration. He appears to
have given the notice for the election of the Convention,
and (being the Colonel of the county) to have superin-
tended the election in each of the militia districts. He
had been for a long time engaged in the service of the
Province as a surveyor, and as a member of the Assem-
bly 5 and was thus intimately acquainted, not only in
Mecklenburg, but in the counties generally. His educa-
tion had been acquired, not within the classic walls of an
English university, but among his own native hills, and
29G THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION
amidst the passions and feelings of bis countrymen. Dr.
Epbraiiii Brevard (tlie author of the Declaration), and
Waightstill Avery (the first Attorney-General of North
Carolina), were men of the highest classical attainments,
and, contributing their enlightened resources to the shrewd
native enthusiasm of Thomas Polk, produced a Declara-
tion at that time unrivalled, not only for the neatness of
its style, but for the moral sublimity of its conception.
The tribute which I pay is, however, not my own.
My opinions are supported by the following letter of the
late John Adams, a patriot whose services in the adoption
of the National Declaration are of a higher order than
those of mere composition.
Copy of a Letter from John Adams to Thomas Jefferson.
" Quincy, 22d June, 1819.
" Dear Sir,
" May I enclose you one of the greatest curiosities, and one of the
deepest mysteries that ever occurred to me ; it is in the Essex
Register of June the 5th, 1819. It is entitled, from the Raleigh
Register, ' Declaration of Independence.' How is it possible that
this paper should have been concealed from me to this day. Had
it been communicated to me in the time of it, I know, if you do not
know, that it would have been printed in every Whig newspaper
upon the continent. You know, that if I had possessed it, I would
have made the Hall of Congress echo and re-echo with it fifteen
months before your Declaration of Independence. What a poor
ignorant, malicious, short-sighted, crapulous mass is Tom Paine's
Common Sense in comparison with this paper. Had I known it
I would have commented upon it from the day you entered Con-
gress till the fourth of July, 1770.
" The genuine sense of America at that moment was never so
well expressed before nor since. Richard Caswell, William Hooper,
and Joseph Hewes, the then Representatives of North Carolina in
Congress, you know as well as I ; and you know that the unanimity
of the States finally depended on the vote of Joseph Hewes, and was
OF INDEPENDENCE. 297
finally determined by him ; and yet history is to ascribe the Ameri-
can Revolution to Thomas Paine. Sat vcrhum sapienti.
" I am, dear sir, your invariable friend,
" JOHN ADAMS.
" President Jefferson."
Mr. Adams, it seems, believed the truth of the
Declaration at tlie date of this letter, which the reader
will perceive is the same which provoked the scandalous
and abusive epistle of Mr. Jefferson. The latter gende-
man could not appreciate the document, and obviously
winced un ler the high praises which his correspondent
so zealously lavished on it. "The genuine sense of
America at that moment was never so well expressed,"
and besides too, it was absolutely " fifteen months before
your declaration." Here is the grand secret of Mr. Jef-
ferson's hostility to the Mecklenburg Declaration, the
occult motive of his infamous abuse of the character of
William Hooper, and of his insulting disclaimer of " any
doubtfulness in North Carolina." The Alexanders, the
Polks, the Brevards, and their associates, instead of
becoming learned upon the various plans and projects of
reconciliation, and sagaciously studying out what would,
and what would not, be popular or successful, declared
themselves free and independent, " and this was their
crime." The altar and the god they sunk together,
fully a year before the Sage of Monticello had ceased his
vows, or had surrendered his hopes of inventing a plan of
reconciliation ; " and for this they could never be forgiven."
They have left behind them in the memory of their
countrymen, beyond the reach of a public calumniator,
^' a name of fear
That tyranny shall quake to hear ;
And left their sons a hope, a fame,
They, too, should rather die than shame."
298 THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION
THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION
OF INDEPENDENCE.
(20th of May, 1775.)
" That whosoever directly or indirectly abets, or in any way,
form, or manner, countenances the unchartered and dangerous
invasion of our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, is an enemy to
this country, to America, and to the inherent and unalienable rights
of man.
" That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg County, do hereby dis-
solve the political bands, which have connected us with the Mother
Country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all allegiance to the
British Crown, and abjure all political connection, contract, or
association with that nation, who have wantonly trampled on our
rights and liberties, and inhumanly slied the blood of American
patriots at Lexington.
" That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent
people ; — are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-
governing association, under the control of no power, other than
that of our God, and the general government of the Congress; —
to the maintenance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to
each other, our mutual cooperation, our lives, our fortunes, and our
most sacred honor.
" That as we acknowledge the existence and control of no law
nor legal officer, civil or military, within this county, we do hereby
ordain and adopt as a rule of life, all, each, and every of our former
laws; wherein, nevertheless, the Crown of Great Britain never can
be considered as holding rights, privileges, immunities, or author-
ity therein.
" That it is further decreed, that all, each, and every military
officer in this county, is hereby reinstated in his former command
and authority, he acting conformably to these regulations. And
that every member present of this delegation shall henceforth be a
civil officer, viz. a Justice of the Peace, in the character of a
Committee-man, to issue process, hear, and determine all matters
of controversy, according to said adopted laws ; and to preserve
peace, union, and harmony in said county ; and to use every exer-
OF INDEPENDENCE.
299
tion to spread the love of country and fire of freedom throughout
America, until a more general and organized government be estab-
lished in this province.
'- ABRAHAM ALEXANDER, Chairman,
" John McEnitt Alexander, Secretanj.
" Ephraim Brevard William Graham Matthew McClure
Hezekiah J. Balch John Queary Neil Morrison
John Phifer' Hezekiah Alexander Robert Irwin
James Harris Adam Alexander John Flenniken
William Kennon Charles Alexander David Reese
John Ford Zaccheus Wilson, sen. John Davidson
Richard Barry Waightstill Avery Richard Harris, sen.
Henry Downe Benjamin Patton Thomas Polk."
Ezra Alexander
The Declaration, which I have just laid before the read-
er has been noticed by several historians of a later date, than
the period of its first appearance in the Raleigh Register,
Mr. Pitkin, in his excellent " Political and Civil History of
the United States," has done ample justice to its impor-
tance, as the first public avowal of independence. It is,
however, important that some contemporary record of so
important an event should be exhibited, as the best evi-
dence of its truth ; and I therefore adduce an extract from
the Proclamation of Governor Martin, which is to be found
on the lS5th and 186th pages of this volume, and which,
it will be observed, was issued on the 8th of August, 1 775.
" And whereas I have also seen a most infamous publication in
the Cape Fear Mercurij, importing to be resolves of a set of people
styling themselves a Committee for the County of Mecklenburg,
most traitorously declaring the entire dissolution of the laws, gov-
ernment, and constitution of this country, and setting up a system
of rule and regulation repugnant to the laws, and subversive of His
Majesty's Government."
A copy of this important state-paper was addressed
to Samuel Johnston, Moderator of the Provincial Con-
300 THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION
gress, at Hillsborough, and was laid before that body by
him on Friday the 25th day of August, 1775.* A printed
copy of the same was found a few years since by that
indefatigable antiquarian and devoted student, Peter
Force, and so much of it as related to the INlecklenburg
Declaration was republished in the papers of the day.
For the preservation of the copy of the Declaration
now in the Executive office of North Carolina, we are
indebted to General Davie, among whose papers it was
found in a somewhat injured state. A copy of it was
likewise in the possession of Dr. Williamson, which copy
Governor Montfort Stokes (in the State pamphlet) de-
clares he saw in the possession of the Doctor, during the
year 1793. The original book in which the proceedings
of the Mecklenburg Convention were recorded, and
which contained the original Resolves, properly signed,
was destroyed by fire about the year 1 800 ; and I esteem
myself fortunate in being able to appeal to such high
personal testimony as that of General Davie and Governor
Stokes, in establishing the identity of the Declaration.
But there is perhaps higher authority to attest the
identity of the Declaration. The late Reverend Hum-
phrey Hunter, a soldier of the Revolution, left behind
him a '' Journal of the War in the South " ; and, as he was
an eyewitness of the proceedings of the Mecklenburg
Convention, he has handed down to us the same Declara-
tion as the one which was kept by General Davie.
I have, in the Introduction to this work, stated the fact,
that a pamphlet contradicting the tenor of Mr. Jefferson's
letter was published by the authority of the Assembly of
North Carolina, during the year 1831. A great variety
* See Journal of the Congress.
OF INDEPENDENCE. 301
of evidence was adduced to show the truth of the Meck-
lenburg Declaration, the whole of which was neatly
sumnried up in the introductory remarks of Governor
Stokes, then Governor of the State. The certificate of
Captain James Jack,* of Elbert County, Georgia, who
bore the Declaration to Philadelphia ; a letter from John
Davidson, the last surviving Signer ; the Manuscript
Journal of the Rev. Humphrey Hunter, detailing the
whole proceeding, and giving the exact Declaration ; a
letter from General Joseph Graham of Lincoln, who was
present on the 19th and 20th of May, 1775; and finally
the personal testimony of the late lamented Colonel William
Polk, of Raleigh, who was likewise present on the occa-
sion, — were all produced, and put forth to establish the
truth of the Mecklenburg Declaration. The high char-
acter of the evidence thus produced was vouched by the
authority of the State, and the whole was submitted to
the candid decision of the world. I have supported this
mass of testimony by the Proclamation of Governor
Martin, a contemporaneous record of the event; which
places beyond all suspicion the fact, that the people of
Mecklenburg declared themselves free and independent,
more than one year anterior to the conception of a Na-
tional Declaration.
The government, which the people of Mecklenburg
established after the Declaration, was composed of a
Committee of Public Safety ; and the chairman of this
body was entrusted with the power of an executive officer.
The Convention was in session two days; and, during this
period, the necessary by-laws and regulations were enact-
* I omit the certificate for want of room ; it is, however, to be
found in the State pamphlet.
26
302 THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION
ed. The people of Mecklenburg, after this event, lived
under this government until tlie adoption of the Constitu-
tion, acknowledging no sovereign but their united will,
and no authority but that of their own choice. Nor was
it a government without energy. The letter of General
Graham * relates the capture of Dunn and Booth ; and
for the perfect correctness of his statements, I appeal to
the Journal of the Congress for August, 1775. Under
the administration of Abraham Alexander, the Chairman
of the Committee of Public Safety, the laws enacted
were rigorously enforced ; and each citizen, whenever he
left the county, carried with him a certificate of character
officially signed by the chairman. I here submit one
* I here present the letter of General Graham, and the extract
from the Journal of the Rev. Humphrey Hunter, both taken from
the State pamphlet.
Gen. Graham's Letter.
" Vesuvius Furnace, 4th October, 1830.
" Dear Sir,
" Agreeably to your request, I will give you the details of the
Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence on the 20th of May,
1775, as well as I can recollect after a lapse of fifty-five years. I
was then a lad about half grown, was present on that occasion, (a
looker on.)
" During the winter and spring preceding that event, several
popular meetings of the people were held in Charlotte; two of
which I attended. Papers were read, grievances stated, and public
measures discussed. As printing was not then common in the
South, the papers were mostly manuscript ; one or more of which
was from the pen of the Reverend Dr. Reese (then of Meck-
lenburg), which met with general approbation, and copies of it
circulated. It is to be regretted that those and other papers pub-
lished at that period, and the journal of their proceedings, are lost.
They would show much of the spirit and tone of thinking which
prepared them for the measures they afterwards adopted.
" On the 20th of May, 1775, besides the two persons elected from
each militia company (usually called Committee-men), a much
OF INDEPENDENCE. 303
of these certificates in favor of William Henderson,
which was furnished by John Davidson, the last survivor
of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde-
pendence.
"North Carolina, Mecklenburg County, >
JK^ovember 28, 1775, j
" These may certify to all whom they may concern, that the
bearer hereof, William Henderson, is allowed here to be a true
friend to liberty, and signed the Association.
" Certified by ABR'M ALEXANDER, Chairman
of the Committee of P, <S."
larger number of citizens attended in Charlotte than at any former
meeting, — perhaps half the men in the county. The news of the
battle of Lexington, the 19th of April preceding, had arrived.
There appeared among the people much excitement. The com-
mittee were organized in the Court-House by appointing Abraham
Alexander, Esq., Chairman, and John M'Knitt Alexander, Esq.,
Clerk or Secretary, to the meeting.
" After reading a number of papers as usual, and much animated
discussion, the question was taken, and they resolved to declare
themselves independent. One among other reasons offered, that
the King or Ministry had, by proclamation or some edict, declared
the Colonies out of the protection of the British Crown ; they ought,
therefore, to declare themselves out of his protection, and resolve on
independence. That their proceedings might be in due form, a
sub-committee, consisting of Dr. Ephraim Brevard, a Mr. Kennon,
an attorney, and a third person, whom I do not recollect, were
appointed to draft their Declaration. They retired from the Court-
House for some time ; but the committee continued in session in it.
One circumstance occurred I distinctly remember : A member of
the committee, who had said but little before, addressed the Chair-
man as follows : ' If you resolve on independence, how shall we all
be absolved from the obligations of the oath we took to be true to
King George the Third about four years ago, after the Regulation
battle, when we were sworn whole militia companies together. I
should be glad to know how gentlemen can clear their consciences
after taking that oath,' This speech produced confusion. The
Chairman could scarcely preserve order, so many wished to reply.
304 THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION
The people of Mecklenburg had no experienced
politician to lead ihem ; — no Richard Henry Lee, who,
skilled in the party tactics of the day, and conversant with
the views respecting us abroad, could bring to their aid
the reputation and ability of a leader. Their leaders
There appeared great indignation and contempt at the speech of
the member. Some said it was nonsense; others that allegiance
and protection were reciprocal; when protection was withdrawn,
allegiance ceased ; that the oath was only binding while the King
protected us in the enjoyment of our rights and liberties as they
existed at the time it was taken; which he had not done, but now
declared us out of his protection ; therefore it was not binding.
Any man who would interpret it otherwise, was a fool. By way of
illustration, pointing to a green tree near the Court-House, he stat-
ed, if he was sworn to do any thing as long as the leaves continued
on that tree, it was so long binding; but when the leaves fell, he
was discharged from its obligation. This was said to be certainly
applicable in the present case. Out of respect for a worthy citizen,
long since deceased, and his respectable connexions, I forbear to
mention names ; for, though he was a friend to the cause, a sus-
picion rested on him in the public mind for some time after.
" The sub-committee appointed to draft the resolutions returned,
and Doctor Ephraim Brevard read their report, as near as I can
recollect, in the very words we have since seen them several times
in print. It was unanimously adopted, and shortly after it was
moved and seconded to have proclamation made and the people
collected, that the proceedings be read at the Court-House door, in
order that all might hear them. It was done, and they were receiv-
ed with enthusiasm. It was then proposed by some one aloud to
give three cheers and throw up their hats. It was immediately
adopted, and the hats thrown. Several of them lit on the Court-
House roof. The owners had some difficulty to reclaim them.
" The foregoing is all from personal knowledge. I understood
afterwards, that Captain James Jack, then of Charlotte, undertook,
on the request of the committee, to carry a copy of their proceed-
ings to Congress, which then sat in Philadelphia; and on his way,
at Salisbury, the time of court, Mr. Kennon, who was one of the
committee who assisted in drawing the Declaration, prevailed on
OF INDEPENDENCE. 305
were men of sterling patriotism more than of profound
sagacity. Endowed with an intense passion for freedom,
they could not listen without emotion to the clang of arms,
from tlie fields of Lexington, or hear of " the shedding
of the innocent blood of American patriots," without
Captain Jack to get his papers, and have them read publicly ; which
was done, and the proceedings met with general approbation. But
two of the lawyers, John Dunn and a Mr. Booth, dissented, and
asserted they were treasonable, and endeavoured to have Captain
Jack detained. He drew his pistols, and threatened to kill the first
man who would interrupt him, and passed on. The news of this
reached Charlotte in a short time after, and the executive of the
committee, whom they had invested with suitable powers, ordered
a party of ten or twelve armed horsemen to bring said lawyers from
Salisbury ; when they were brought, and the case was investigated
before the committee. Dunn, on giving security and making fair
promises, was permitted to return, and Booth was sentenced to go
to Camden, in South Carolina, out of the sphere of his influence.
My brother George Graham, and the late Col. John Carruth, were
of the party that went to Salisbury ; and it is distinctly remembered,
that when in Charlotte they came home at night, in order to pro-
vide for their trip to Camden ; and that they and two others of the
party took Booth to that place. This was the first military expedi-
tion from Mecklenburg in the Revolutionary war, and believed to be
the first any where to the South.
" Yours respectfully,
" J. GRAHAM,
" Dr. Jos. M'Kt. Alexander,
" Mecklenburg, JV. Carolina."
Extract from the Memoir of the late Rev. Humphrey
Hunter.
" Orders were presently issued by Col. Thos. Polk to the several
militia companies, that two men, selected from each corps, should
meet at the Court-House on the 19th of May, 1775, in order to con-
sult with each other upon such measures as might be thought best
to be pursued. Accordingly, on said day a far larger number than
two out of each company were present. There was some difficulty
26*
306 THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION
Striking down for ever that IMolher Flag, which had
waved so proudly for ages over the heads of their ances-
tors. The county of Kent has been rendered immortal
in English History by the invincibility of her Saxon spirit.
She bravely and successfully resisted the rude innovation
in choosing the commissioners. To have chosen all thought to be
worthy, would have rendered the meeting too numerous. The fol-
lowing were selected, and styled Delegates, and are here given,
according to my best recollection, as they were placed on roll :
Abram Alexander, sen'r, Thomas Polk, Rich'd Harris, scn'r, Adam
Alexander, Richard Barry, John M'Knitt Alexander, Neil Moiison,
Hezekiah Alexander, IJezekiah J. Balch, Zaccheus Wilson, John
Phifer, James Harris. William Kennon, John Ford, Henry Downs,
Ezra Alexander, William Graham, John Queary, Chas. Alexander,
Waitstill Avery, Ephraim Brevard, Benjamin Patton, Matthew
M'Clure, Robert Irwin, John Flenniken, and David Reese.
" Abram Alexander was nominated, and unanimously voted to
the Chair. John M'Knitt Alexander and Ephraim Brevard were
chosen Secretaries. The Chair being occupied, and the Clerks
seated, the House was called to order and proceeded to business.
Then a full, a free, and dispassionate discussion obtained on the
various subjects for which the delegation had been convened, and
the following resolutions were unanimously ordained :
'<'lst. Resolved, That whosoever directly or indirectly abetted,
or in any way, form, or manner, countenanced the unchartered and
dangerous invasion of our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, is an
enemy to this country, to America, and to the inherent and inaliena-
ble rights of man.
" ' 2d. Resolved, That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg county,
do hereby dissolve the political bands which have connected us to
the mother country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all allegi-
ance to the British Crown, and abjure all political connexion, con-
tract, or association, with that nation, who have wantonly trampled
on our rights and liberties, and inhumanly shed the blood of Ameri-
can patriots at Lexington.
" ' 3d. Resolved, That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and
independent people ; are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and
self-governing Association, under the control of no power other than
OF INDEPENDENCE. 307
of the haughty Norman ; and, although she now stands
almost Lindislinguished on the map of England, the revolu-
tion of ages, and not the sword, annihilated her distinctive
character and institutions. And thus may the county of
Mecklenburg be celebrated by some more fortunate pen.
that of our God and the general government of the Congress ; to
the maintenance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to
each other our mutual cooperation, our lives, our fortunes, and our
most sacred honor.
" « 4th. Resolved, That as we now acknowledge the existence and
control of no law or legal officer, civil or military, within this coun-
ty, we do hereby ordain and adopt as a rule of life, all, each, and
every of our former laws, — wherein, nevertheless, the Crown of
Great Britain never can be considered as holding rights, privileges,
immunities, or authority therein.
" ' 5th. Resolved, That it is further decreed, that all, each, and
every militia officer in this county, is hereby reinstated in his for-
mer command and authority, he acting conformably to these regu-
lations. And that every member present, of this delegation, shall
henceforth be a civil officer, viz. a Justice of the Peace, in the char-
acter of a ' Committee-man,' to issue process, hear and determine
all matters of controversy, according to said adopted laws, and to
preserve peace, union, and harmony in said county; — and to use
every exertion to spread the love of country and fire of freedom
throughout America, until a more general and organized govern-
ment be established in this province.'
" Those resolves having been concurred in, by-laws and regula-
tions for the government of a standing Committee of Public Safety
were enacted and acknowledged. Then a select committee was
appointed, to report on the ensuing day a full and definite statement
of grievances, together with a more correct and formal draft of the
Declaration of Independence. The proceedings having been thus
arranged and somewhat in readiness for promulgation, the Delega-
tion then adjourned until to-morrow, at 12 o'clock.
" The 20th of May, at 12 o'clock, the Delegation, as above, had
convened. The select committee were also present, and reported
agreeably to instructions, viz. a statement of grievances and for-
mal draft of the Declaration of Independence, written by Ephraim
303 THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION.
when the dawning era of our freedom shall, in the lapse
of time, become matter of curiosity, and its origin bd
sought for only to limit the period of its duration. The
events of the 19th and 20th of May, 1775, will be record-
ed in letters of living light, as the first of a series of deeds,
that laid the foundations of our magnificent empire.
Brevard, chairman of said committee, and read by him to the Dele-
gation. The resolves, by-laws, and regulations were read by John
M'Knitt Alexander. It was then announced from the Chair, ' Are
you all agreed ? ' There was not a dissenting voice. Finally, the
whole proceedings were read distinctly and audibly, at the Court-
House door, by Col. Thomas Polk, to a large, respectable, and ap-
proving assemblage of citizens, who were present, and gave sanction
to the business of the day. A copy of all those transactions were
then drawn off, and given in charge to Capt. James Jack, then of
Charlotte, that he should present them to Congress, then in session
in Philadelphia.
" On that memorable day, I was 20 years and 14 days of age, a
very deeply interested spectator, recollecting the dire hand of op-
pression that had driven me from my native clime, now pursuing
me in this happy asylum, and seeking to bind again in the fetters of
bondage.
" On the return of Capt. Jack, he reported that Congress, individ-
ually, manifested their entire approbation of the conduct of the
Mecklenburg citizens ; but deemed it premature to lay them official-
ly before the House."
PART III.
THE CHARACTER OF WILLIAM HOOPER.
The reader will remember that this gentleman is
denounced in the offensive letter of Mr. Jefferson, as the
rankest Tory in Congress, and that no evidence whatever
was there produced to sustain this charge against the
character of one of the signers of the National Declaration.
The mere act of signing that Declaration should be a
sufficient refutation of the calumny ; for the imputation of
Toryism against Mr. Hooper is proclaimed as having
been notorious at the period of the Mecklenburg Declara-
tion, more than a year before the 4th of July, 1776.
*'The paper speaks, too, of the continued exertions
of their delegation (Caswell, Hooper, and Hughes) ' in
the cause of liberty and independence : ' now you re-
member as well as I do, that we had not a greater Tory
in Congress than Hooper." Such is the emphatic lan-
guage of the letter. No facts are presented, to attest its
truth ; no circumstances in the life of Hooper are appeal-
ed to, as calculated to inspire doubt or suspicion as to his
patriotism. The mere declaration of the writer's opinion
must be received as positive and solemn proof, and the
character of North Carolina determined upon accordingly.
The vanity of Mr. Jefferson had been so long nourished
by the adulation of his party, that, in the latter part of
310 THE CHARACTER OF
his life, he really supposed himself infallible, and acted as
though the gods had placed him upon the summit of his
own Monticello, to pass sentence on the sins and reward
the virtues of the inhabitants of the New World.
This vainglorious delusion of the sage was encouraged
by his party. In all controversies, political, religious, or
literary, they recurred to their founder, and obeyed his
responses with all the submission of idolatrous homage.
Was the patriodsm of Brutus or the respective claims of
Cicero and Ueaiosthenes to the palm of supremacy to be
setded, the oracle of Monticello was consulted and his
decrees obeyed. The divinity of the Saviour, the integ-
rity of his religion, as well as the sublimity of the Koran,
were alike subjected to his will. The vexed question of
the superior richness and variety of languages was at once
adjusted by his fiat ; and all his followers are still content,
piously to abhor the exquisite melody and richness of
their own nadve tongue, and to hurrah for the flexibility
of the French, a language which they neither read, speak,
nor understand when spoken. The orthography of our
language too has been sometimes revolutionized by this
radical autocrat ; and, as he was in the habit of ruling
many of the leading men of North Carolina, he would
sometimes condescend to change the orthography of their
names, and I shall henceforth expect to find every idola-
ter of Mr. Jefferson, not only denouncing Mr. Hooper as
a Tory, but fiercely contending that Hewes is only
properly spelt when it reads Hughes,
There is no apology for this slavish subservience.
There is about the character of Mr. Jefferson, none of
that frankness which captivates the enthusiastic spirit of
a young man. Unlike General Jackson, he gathered
WILLIAM HOOPER. 311
no laurels in the defeat of hostile armies, or in the subju-
gation of barbarian tribes. The ambitious youth does
not read in the primer of education of his hardships and
fatigues in military campaigns, or of his valor in the
field of New Orleans. His scholarship shrinks into
contemptible pedantry when tested by critical ingenuity;
and his philosophy, so well illustrated by his lucubrations
on the winds of Virginia, into " ingenious perversions
of truth." By his constant abuse of Washington, Mar-
shall, Lee, and all the nobler sons of Virginia ; by his
decided opposition to the Constitution of the United
States ; and finally, by his political victory in 1801, he
secured to liimself the imperishable reputation of the lead-
er of the mob. By his pretensions to the character of a
scholar and a philosopher, he has drawn to his support all
the literary and political pedants of Virginia ; and, thus
fortified by the close adherence of the dregs of every class
of society, he ruled his country, from President to Presi-
dent, through a period of more than twenty years. Thus
fortified too, he went triumphantly through the great
contest of the Embargo, crushing the property of the
country by the prostration of trade ; and, entailing on his
country two successive Virginian administrations, the same
corrupt power controlled the property of the people dur-
ing the progress of a three years' war. Appealing to
the lowest passion in the human bosom, the jealousy of
the idle and ignorant against the holders of property and
all permanent institutions, he gathered around him the
factious, ignorant, and discontented portion of the people,
and, by the distribution of ofiices and other favors, con-
trolled through them the government of the country.
" Froth rides the stormiest wave."
312 THE CHARACTER OF
To all such men William Hooper was naturally opposed.
Endowed with a nriost liberal education, (having been grad-
uated at Harvard College, at the head of his class, in 1760),
his zeal was not to be aroused by one whose prototype
was Ulysses, while the combined characters of Nestor and
Ajax were represented in the person of Washington. He
had been bred to the profession of the law in the ofKce of
James Otis ; and, imbibing from his master his political
principles, he commenced the practice of his profession in
1767, in North Carolina, a decided Whig. His familiar
intercourse with the great patriot of IMassachusetts gave
him an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the rights
of the colonies and the aggressions of the ministry; and
accordingly we find him conspicuous in all committees
entrusted with the definition and publication of the
nature of the controversy. In 1773, when he fi^st ap-
peared in the Assembly, he commenced an active and
leading career; and, continuing in the confidence of the
people, he was one of the original projectors of the first
Provincial Congress. He was emphatically in advance
of the spirit of the times, and conceived the project
of Independence long before even the initiatory steps
had been taken by any of the patriots of that day. I
appeal to the following letter.
Letter from William Hooper to James Iredell.
(April 26th, 1774.)
« Dear Sir,
" You have great reason to reproach me that I have not long
before thit! answered your most acceptable letter of the 30th of
December last. Attribute my neglect to business which I might
have postponed, to forgetfulness, to indolence ; but by no means
to want of respect, for be assured that this had not the smallest
share in the omission. It is a crime however which, in some de-
gree, has carried its punishment with it, as it has deprived me of
WILLIAM HOOPER. 313
a repetition of your epistolary favors hitherto, from which 1 might
have derived ample instruction and amusement.
" It has afforded me the utmost pleasure, that, notwithstanding
the multiplicity of business in which you are engaged, you have
found some leisure moments to dedicate to the investigation of
those political subjects which have engaged the attention and hurt
the peace of this province. Every man who thinks with candor
is indebted to you for the share you have taken in this interesting
controversy. You have discussed dry truths with the most pleas-
ing language, and have not parted from the most refined delicacy of
manners in the warmth of the contest. It is a circumstance which
much enhances the merit of the performances written in opposition
to the measures of government, that those who have attempted to
answer them have for argument substituted personal invectives,
and have lost sight of the measure to run foul of the man.
" I am happy, dear Sir, that my conduct in public life has met
your approbation. It is a suffrage which makes me vain, as it flows
from a man who has wisdom to distinguish, and too much virtue to
flatter. If I have served the public in any respect, I have done
no more than my duty ; if I have adopted measures inconsistent
with the public good, and pursued the completion of them, it is to
be charged upon my understanding, for my heart hath had no share
in the transgression. I shall meet the censure of the world with
indifference, wrapt in that applause which no external circum-
stances can rob me of, — that I have done my endeavours to the
best of my knowledge to serve my country.
" With a pleasure which words can scarce express, I have gone
hand in hand with those whose virtue baffled the severest trial, by
making a sacrifice of private interest to the promotion of the public
good ; who in private life maintained a character exemplary in being
upright, and by the independent rectitude of their conduct in pub-
lic life, and the open, generous manner in which they expressed
their sentiments, might rival the dignity of a more august senate
than that in which they were placed. While the scene of life in
which I was engaged with them would have rendered any reserve
on my part not only improper, but even culpable, you were des-
tined for a more retired, but not less useful conduct ; and whilst I
was active in contest, you forged the weapons which were to give
success to the cause which I supported. To your most intimate
friends I am indebted for the discovery of you as a writer ; and you
will pardon them for the luxury they have furnished me in an
27
314 THE CHARACTER OF
opportunity of being grateful to an author who claims no reward for
serving the public, but the pleasure of it, and deals out his bounty
to them without suffering them to know the hand from which it
flows.
" With you I anticipate the important share which the colonies
must soon have in regulating the political balance. They arc strid-
ing fast to independence, and ere long will build an empire upon
the ruin of Great Britain; will adopt its constitution purged of its
impurities, and from an experience of its defects will guard against
those evils which have wasted its vigor and brought jt to an un-
timely end. From the fate of Rome, Britain may trace the cause
of its present degeneracy, and its impending destruction. Similar
causes will ever produce similar effects. The extent of the British
dominion is become too unwieldy for her to sustain. Commerce
hath generated a profusion of wealth, and luxury and corruption, the
natural attendants of it. Those to whom are entrusted the conduct
of the state, are too much absorbed in debauchery to attend to the
rights of the constitution, or too enervated to dare to support them.
Venality is at the standard it was when Jugurtha left Rome, with
this difference, that subjects are now found who have wealth enough
to make the purchase, and have advanced very far in the infamous
traffic. What Sir Robert Walpole gained by the artful use of the
public treasury is now the voluntary contribution of individuals,
and subjects vie with each other in the pious purpose of subverting
the constitution. In Britain the attack must soon produce its pur-
pose ; it is directed at the freedom of election, its success buys the
independence of Parliament, and then farewell Old England.
"They, who view things superficially, are induced to believe, from
the authority which the mother country maintains abroad, that the
body politic is in the highest vigor. Appearances deceive them.
What strikes them as the glow of health, is but the flushing of a
fever. The coloring is transitory and fatal. Rome in its greatest
lustre was upon the verge of dissolution ; an internal malady prey-
ed upon its vitals, which became the more dangerous from being
concealed. Good fortune is a powerful enemy to virtue, and man-
kind become abandoned in proportion to the strength of temptation,
and the facility of being gratified. Her ambition was sated. She
sat down in indolence to enjoy the fruits of conquests, regardless
of the means by which they were to be supported. Luxury and
dissipation ensued. The amusements which they had formerly
pursued, and which had conspired to brace their nerves and give
WILLIAM HOOPER. 315
vigor to their constitution, and thus prepared them for action, took
a different turn ; the refinement of the arts and sciences, while
it softened the ferocity of their manners, depraved the purity of
their morals, and Rome, from being the nursery of heroes, became
the residence of musicians, pimps, panders, and catamites. Their
extravagance and profusion every day excited new wants, while
the sources were no longer open from whence they were to be
supplied. The provinces, dependent on them who had now added
the Roman discipline to their own native bravery, prepared to
subdue their conquerors with the arms which they had put into
their hands. Wearied with being made the mere instruments of
pleasure and convenience to Rome, they began to feel their own
importance and to aim at independence. The Empire, no longer
in a situation to give laws to her remote dependencies, and to
enforce obedience by the exercise of her own strength, had re-
course to barbarians for succour, and shuddered at the cabals of
her own subjects. She fell a sacrifice to a herd of savage mis-
creants, and the most polished state in the world sunk at once
into absolute barbarism. She had been some time ripe for this
fate. Some one of enterprise was wanting to make the attempt.
Reserve the catastrophe, and might not Great Britain be the original
from which this picture is taken ?
" America is perhaps reserved to be their asylum ; may they
find it the asylum of liberty too. Be it our endeavour to guard
against every measure that may have a tendency to prevent so
desirable an object. Thus I have forced upon you my undigested
thoughts upon a subject, which some hints in your letter have
drawn me into the discussion of, with a prolixity that will require
all your good nature to excuse,
" I know too well your reverence for our Constitution not to
forgive it in another, although it borders upon enthusiasm. There
may be an excess even in virtue. Adieu, dear Sir, I flatter myself
that this may be introductory to a frequent and intimate correspond-
ence between us, in which, though I am to be the only gainer in
point of instruction or amusement, yet I shall in a manner there-
by make you my debtor by furnishing you the highest entertain-
ment, — the luxury of obliging a friend.
" I am, dear Sir,
With the most cordial esteem.
Your most ob't, humble serv't,
" WILL. HOOPER.
« From the Sound, Jpril 26, 1774,
316 THE CHARACTER OF
" By way of Postscript. By a Letter from Charlestown, I am
informed the Crown Land Office is open, but upon different terms
from what it formerly was."
The charge of Toryism against the author of this
letter " deserves only to be mentioned to be despised."
I challenge the whole corps of Virginia historians,
politicians, editors, and orators, to produce a paper of
such a character at so early a period of the struggle.
With a dale long before the meeting of the Continental
Congress, it equals, in the boldness of its language and
the intrepidity of its thoughts, the Fourth of July declara-
tion of that body, a crisis which was matured by two
years of deep consultation, and which was at last ap-
proached by cautious and indeed timid footsteps. The
National Declaration, the adoption of the Federal Consti-
tution, and indeed the whole subsequent history of the
country, have been but the fulfillment of its splendid
prophecy. Had it been the composition of Mr. Jef-
ferson, it would have been printed on satiuj honored
with a weekly puff in the honied pages of Ritchie, and
celebrated by all the " historians of the adjacent States,"
as a " gigantic step " of the Sage of Monticello. It
would have been read before the Declaration on the
Fourth of July and other festivals, and have found a
place in the elegant epitaph that marks his grave.
In North Carolina, amidst the popular hurrah for Mr.
Jefferson, it has slept quietly for sixty years in the desk
of the late Judge Iredell. I now publish it as the best
illustration of the character of William Hooper.
The political character of Mr. Hooper as applied to
the Whig government of North Carolina, will be best
understood by a discussion of the part he took in the
formation of the constitution of the State. It is only by
WILLIAM HOOPER. 317
a recurrence to first principles, that the real character
of a statesman is exhibited ; and the battle that was
fought upon the erection of the Whig on the ruins of
the Royal government in the spring and year of 1776,
has afforded me, and must again afford me, an opportunity
to sketch the character of one of the heroes of that day.
In the struggle on the principles of the new government,
Mr. Hooper cooperated with Samuel Johnston, although it
is obvious he did not enter with much enthusiasm or zeal
into the support of those high conservative principles, which
distinguished the character of the latter. He does not ap-
pear even to have excited the jealousy of the zealous Radi-
cals of the spring Convention of 1776, nor to have lost, in
the mildness of his course, the confidence of his conserva-
tive friends. Being a Delegate in the Continental Congress,
he did not mingle with much warmth in the party bicker-
ings of his own Province ; and yet there is one clause in
the present constitution, which so much excited his feel-
ings, as to provoke the bitterest denunciation.
In the Constitution of North Carolina there is a clause
restricting offices of Trust and Profit to those who be-
lieve in the truth of the Protestant Religion. This
singular feature now strikes every one with astonishment,
and provokes the almost universal condemnation of the
educated gentlemen of the State. It is so repugnant to
the feelings of an American, it is so contrary to the very
nature of our institutions, to the very spirit of the Revolu-
tion, that I own I was for a long time ashamed of it, as
an instance of gross bigotry and illiberality. Confident,
however, that the irresistible force of public opinion
would never suffer an honest citizen to be deprived of
the reward that was due his merit, I consoled myself
27*
318 THE CHARACTER OF
with the reflection that it was a dead letter. Subsequent
investigation into the private papers of those who formed
it, has convinced me, that its importance has been mag-
nified, and that the omission of the word Episcopal, in
the original resolutions or draft, was considered as an
establishment of the freedom of the Christian religion.
Upon that word the battle was fought, and as it was struck
out by an overwhelming voice, the project of a State reli-
gion, otherwise than that of the Christian, was considered
as annihilated.
Against this principle, and all others of a like nature,
Mr. Hooper zealously contended. The idea of propos-
ing any religious test in a Constitution was to him so
monstrous, that he wrote to Thomas Jones,* of Edenton,
(a High Churchman,) a letter so offensive as to interrupt
their acquaintance and friendship. The reader will re-
mark in a letter which I shall presently exhibit, the
vehemence of his denunciation against such a principle,
and an insinuation that the idea of a religious test orig-
inally came from Pennsylvania. It is singular that such
a principle should have found support in the ranks of the
Radical party. It was vehemently opposed by Harnett,
Hooper, and Allen Jones, and seems to have been one
of those questions upon which parties could not divide.
Although Mr. Hooper inclined towards the conserva-
tive rank, still he was too liberal to allow himself to be
guided by the prejudices of party, and it was fortunate
for him, as the Representative of the State in the Con-
tinental Congress, that he should have stood somewhat
aloof from the local politics of his constituents. Though
* Letter dated the 13th of October, 1776.
WILLIAM HOOPER. 3X9
opposed to the control of a rabble and the avowed advo-
cate of the representation of property, still he did not
offend the feelings of his opponents by any public exhibi-
tion of that contempt and abhorrence, which the profes-
sion of such principles is too apt to arouse in the bosonri
of an enlightened citizen.
Thus -the political character of Mr. Hooper may be
understood. The advocate of a government of energy
and respectability, erected upon the property of the peo-
ple, and controlled only by those who were thus doubly
bound to the soil of the State. To such a man, Mr.
Jefferson was, as it were by nature, opposed. Himself
almost the advocate of an agrarian law, and an avowed
believer in the universal equality of mankind, as the
essential principle of a system of government, he must
have viewed a politician of Mr. Hooper's stamp as but
litde better than a supporter of a Russian autocracy.
The one urged on the revolution to secure the property
of the people from the grasp of a tyrannical Ministry ;
the other engaged in the same work to ride into conse-
quence and power upon the turbulent passions of the
multitude. The one was the avowed advocate of order
by the security of property and all vested rights ; the
other spoke to his followers of the pride and haughtiness
of the rich, of the sufferings of the poor, of the terrors
of legitimate power, and of the necessity of a perpetual
chaos. The one loved Washington as the saviour of the
constitutional liberty of his country; the other abused him
as a disciple of the English aristocracy, and an adherent of
the doctrine of the supremacy of the law and the constitu-
tion. It is a comparison between Oramazdes and Arimanes.
I have shown by the letter of Mr. Hooper of date
320 THE CHARACTER OF
the 2Gtli of April, 1774, that even at that early period,
so far from being a Tory, he had conceived and written
out the horoscope of the Independence of his country.
I shall now proceed to present extracts from his letters
down to the adoption of ihe National Declaration. They
are loo long to be published entire, and only the parts
bearing on the character of their author are submitted.
" From William Hooper to Samuel Johnston.
" Philadelphia, May 23d, 1775.
" This city has taken a deep share in the insurrection which is
so generally dilFused through the continent. Men, women, and
children feel the patriotic glow, and think every man in a state
of reprobation beyond the power of heavenly mercy to forgive,
who is not willing to meet death rather than concede a tittle of the
Congress creed."
" Hooper to Johnston.
" Philadelphia, 5th of June, 1775.
" I wrote you lately by Mr. Hewes' vessel. I have nothing to
add but to request of you to exert your utmost influence to prevail
upon the people to enroll themselves in companies ; sacredly to
attend to the preservation of what little gunpowder remains among
them, and to rest assured that no terms will be obtained from Lord
North but what are purchased at the point of the sword."
"Hooper to Johnston.
" Philadelphia, 6th of February, 1776.
" Do we not play a game where slavery or liberty is the stake ? —
But why do I tease you, who are so much better capacitated to
judge of the proper measures to be pursued than I am ? But suffer
me. Must you not have Brigadier-Generals in districts and superior
officers over the whole ^ Must not very large bodies be placed
immediately along the seacoast ? Were I to advise, the whole
force of the colony should be collected ready for immediate exertion
when called for ; and bid adieu to plough-shares and pruning-hooks,
till the sword could find its scabbard with safety and honor to its
owner. My first wish is to be free ; my second to be reconciled to
Great Britain. God grant that both may soon take place. Meas-
ures must be taken immediately. Ere this the troops of the
enemy are in your country ; may you stand forth like men, and
fight the cause of liberty, the cause of the living God."
WILLIAM HOOPER. 321
I have, in the course of my investigations of the his-
tory of North Carolina, collected a large number of Mr.
Hooper's letters, and have never been able to gather
from them the slightest doubt as to his patriotism. These
letters are all elegantly written, and at some future and
no very distant day shall be presented to the public as the
consumm'ation of that defence of his character I have here
undertaken. Passing now from the extracts of his letters,
we find him, in April, 1776, a member of the Provincial
Congress, and acting with those who voted for Independ-
ence on the 12th of that month. After the adjournment of
the Congress, he engaged in the campaign ao;ainst Clinton
and Governor Martin, which was waged on the Cape Fear
during the month of May. Employed in these duties, he
did not reach the Continental Congress until the question
of Independence was setded, and the signing of his name,
therefore, as it was the highest, so it was the only support
he could there give that instrument.
I shall now introduce a long and valuable letter of
Mr. Hooper, written after the 4th of July, in which will
be found expressed the same glowing patriotism that
distinguished all his compositions. I present it as an
historical document, not vouching for the correctness of
its estimate of the valor of the Eastern troops, although
I have no question, but that Mr. Hooper wrote upon
what he supposed the most correct data.
"From William Hooper, M. C.
" Philadelphia, 27th Sept. 1776.
" This, my dear Sir, is truly confidential, — were it not that ray
friend Hewes is the bearer, I should not trust it out of my own
hands ; a letter which might be attended with unhappy consequen-
ces, should it fall into the power of any one disposed to make an
unfriendly use of it.
" 1 have waited impatiently for our public affairs to take a favora
322 THE CHARACTER OF
ble turn to tlie Eastward before I sit down to delineate to you the
state of them. I have waited to little purpose; every day gives a
blacker tinge to the picture ; and I assume my pen at this stage of
them, lest I should be induced hereafter to turn from the prospect
with abhorrence, and be averse to trouble you upon so unpleasing
a contemplation.
" You will feel yourself little obliged to me even now, that I
draw off your attention from the endearing conc-erns of private
and domestic life, from the recesses of rural and philosophic retire-
ment, to fix it upon scenes that characterize human nature in its
most depraved state, and almost tempt a man to arraign Providence,
that he has been cast into being at a time, when private and politi-
cal vice is at a crisis, and the measure of iniquity full and over-
flowing.
" But, dear Sir, it becomes our duty to see things as they are,
divested of all disguise ; and when the happiness of the present
age, and of millions yet unborn, depends upon a reformation of
them, we ought to spare no pains to effect so desirable a purpose.
" I know it to be very impolitic to dwell upon his losses, to a
man who is unlucky. But when you play so deep a hazard as at
present, you ought not to be kept in ignorance how the game runs.
" After the constant employment of the American army dur-
ing a whole summer in fortifying Long Island and New York,
General Howe landed with his army on the former ; and being
opposed by a handful of our troops, whose bravery did honor to
the glorious cause they fought for, with greatly superior numbers,
Howe bore down all resistance, and, after having killed and wound-
ed many, and taken near 1000 prisoners, retired to iiis encamp-
ment, now enlarged to that part of the island of which he had
dispossessed our friends.
" Our men, now confined to their lines, were thought unequal to
the defence of them. The enemy, possessed of heights which our
troops, with all their opportunities, neglected to fortify, had the
entire command.
" Our. General wisely ordered a retreat, which was conducted
without any loss but that of owr honor.
" New York received us on our retreat, but, from what you know
of its situation, not to hold us long. We retired with the loss of
a great part of our stores in sight of a victorious enemy ; abandon-
ing those works which had been reared at an immense expense,
without any use but to stand as monuments of the absurdities
WILLIAM HOOPER. 323
which must ever attend a war, conducted with raw, undisciplined
troops in the field, and want of political experience in the cabinet.
Would I could draw a veil of oblivion over what ensued ! The
enemy attempted to land a body of troops near Haerlem where we
had two Brigades of Eastern forces stationed. Our men made way
for them as soon as their arrival was announced. They saw j they
fled ; not a single man faced his enemy, or fired his gun. Our
brave General flew to the scene of action, but not a man would
follow him. With prayers, entreaties, nay tears, he endeavoured
to cause them to rally. At one time 60 of the enemy, separated
from the main body, had the pleasure of pursuing two complete
Brigades of New England heroes. ' Where then was that spirit of
freedom which animated them .? Where were then the yeomanry of
the country, men of property, — not mere mercenaries, — who fight
the cause of freedom, and will succeed, or perish with It ? ' Mere
words of puff". Vox, et prcEterea nihil.
" Washington is now at Col. Roger Morris's, advantageously
posted ; his army, however, in a condition far from pleasing. The
scarcity of clothing of all kinds prevents them being clothed and
covered as the season requires. Near 4000 of them are now sick,
which is but small compared with those who have been returned
formerly in that state.
''He has had an immense deal of trouble with the militia, who
from re'al (re alia) or feigned sickness have been a constant burden
to the army without any use whatever.
"Of 13 Battalions of Connecticut militia, all but 700 deserted.
And these he dismissed, to save such a burdensome expense with-
out any benefit resulting from it.
" I am sorry to find that my countrymen are become a by-word
among the nations. — 'Eastern Prowess,' — 'Nation poorly,' —
' Camp difficulty,' are standing terms of reproach and dishonor.
They suffer in comparison with troops to the southward of Hud-
son's River, who have, to a man, behaved well ; and bore the whole
brunt on Long Island. And that for which the Eastern troops must
be damned to eternal fame ; they have plundered friends and foes
without discrimination. When 1 commend the Southern troops,
I except the Philadelphia City militia, who, poltroon-like, deserted
•their standard, not being able to bear the absence of the muskets.
" All this is, in a great measure, to be ascribed to the present
footing upon which our army has been enlisted. The enrollments
have been so short, that they were scarce in the field before it was
324 THE CHARACTER OF
time to disband them. Tliey acquired no military knowledge from
experience ; their service was too short to establish subordination
and discipline among them.
" Another great grievance has been the want of proper officers
to command ; the scantiness of pay, or some other cause, has drawn
few gentlemen into commands. Offices have been chiefly distribut-
ed among men to the Eastward, who have aimed at nothing but
popularity in the army, and knew that nothing would so effectually
secure it as condescension and equality. — Judge what would be
the privates, when such were the officers. I am told that they have
even stimulated tlieir men to desertion, to find an excuse to follow
them ; and the regimental surgeons have taken bribes to certify
sickness in order to exempt soldiers from duty.
" It is a fact that a Connecticut militia Brigadier induced his
whole Brigade to run away, and then most bravely ran away him-
self. In a word, I begin to believe that patriotism among the com-
mon soldiers, is a bubble, and that pay-icdl and hang-icell are the
grand secrets to make an army ; — that this is a mere machine that
ought never to think or act, but when acted upon ; — that it requires
skilful artificers, or officers, to wind up and conduct its movements ;
for when left to itself, it will soon run down, or go into irregulari-
ties which must produce confusion and ruin to itself. If once a
soldier is suffered to think for himself, or reason upon the propriety
of the command of his officers, farewell to suddenness and decision
in execution. These are the imperfections of our present army.
The enclosed will show you the method which we have taken to
remedy them.
" Thus we stand alike and contrasted. Washington, brave ;
Howe, brave ; Howe experienced, Washington, not. Howe's
army disciplined, orderly, satisfied, well found with every thing j
Washington's, raw troops, disorderly, discontented, and wanting
almost every necessary for clothing, and very many for defence ;
and the term of enlistment nearly expiring. Don't start from the
picture ! It is taken strictly from the original ; and, far from excit-
ing despair, it ought rather to rouse us from our lethargy, and induce
us to remedy the evils while in our power, for yet they are so.
" By way of back shade to the picture, I would inform you, that
a few days ago, a detachment from the enemy took possession of
our works at Paulus Hook ; the guard we had there retired and
left them a bloodless conquest. Hewes will inform you that we
WILLIAM HOOPER. 325
lately had some advantage in a skirmish with the enemy. That
perhaps has served to keep together our present army.
" Our privateers have been successful. I will not say any thing
of our continental ships, lest I should infringe upon Hewes' depart-
ment. I fear that the want of men and cannon will prove an
insuperable obstacle to their movements.
" To what accident it is to be ascribed, I know not, but since
Howe got ^possession of York, above one third of the city has been
consumed by fire. It is reported, I know not with what truth, that
Howe, who is obliged now and then to humor the Hessians, gave
them one day to rejoice and riot, and that in the heat of their fes-
tivity, they made a bonfire of the city, — so says rumor; others,
with less- probability, ascribe it to our forces, who were nine miles
distant from it at the time.
" The successes of Howe have given a strange spring to Toryism.
Men, who have hitherto lurked in silence and neutrality, seem wil-
ling to take a side in opposition to the liberties of their country.
" Toryism is a strange weed, the growth of a barren soil, whose
vegetation is not progressive, but is indebted for a sudden exist-
ence to the sunshine of prosperity, and perishes as soon as that
leaves it ; having nothing radical in itself, or the soil from which
it springs, to continue its existence longer.
" You have seen the Constitution of Pennsylvania ! Humano
capiti cervix equina jun eta ; the motley mixture of limited monarchy
and an execrable democracy ; a beast without a head ; the mob
made a second branch of legislation ; laws subjected to their revisal
in order to reform them ; — a washing in ordure, by way of purifica-
tion. Taverns and dram-shops are the councils to which the laws
of this State are to be referred for approbation before they possess a
binding influence ; — no man to be an Assembly man, unless he be-
lieves in God. Is irreligion then the flourishing growth of Pennsyl-
vania ? and is atheism a weed that thrives there ? Sure this in-
sinuates as much. It is a melancholy consideration, that public
proceedings are now, in a great measure, the histories of those
concerned in them ; and popularity, interest, office, are the strong
outlines which mark the production. In this instance they all
work powerfully. I shall lament that any prepossession should
have taken place in Carolina, in favor of the wisdom in politics of
this State, or that the name which authenticates the public acts ot
the Convention should have any weight to give such a plan a cur-
rency. It is truly the excrement of the expiring genius of political
28
326 THE CHARACTER OF
phrenzy. It has made more Tories than Lord North ; deserves
more imprecations than the Devil and all his angels. It will shake
the very being of this once flourishing country. But I am at the
bottom of my page ; I have performed all I promised ; and have
given you a tale, piteous, truly piteous ; and will now leave you to
indulge all the luxury of melancholy and distress for our bleeding
country. Do not, however, imagine that I rather delineate the
history of my own mind, than a state of facts as they are unwarped
by a gloomy fancy. Do not mistake me, — my spirits have not
failed me. I do not look upon present ills as incurable ; I never
considered the path to liberty as strewn with roses ; — she keeps her
temple upon the highest pinnacle on earth. They who would
enter with sincerity and pure devotion, must climb over rocks and
frightful precipices, covered with thorns and weeds. These mis-
carriages will be frequent ; and how many thousands must perish
in the pursuit ! But the prize is worthy all the fatigue and hazard ;
and the adventurer, where others' journeys end, will look down with
pleasure on the difficulties he has surmounted ; and with triumph
count the glorious wounds that have purchased to him and pos-
terity the invaluable blessing. Thus I sport in the field of metaphor
more at ease than I, till now, thought myself capable of.
" It is a standard which every man of the present day should
bring himself to ; and were I to choose a motto for a modern Whig,
it should be, ^Whatever is, is right! ' and on the reverse, 'JVil des-
perandum.' May you and yours ever feel those blessings which
are the result of genuine goodness of heart; and may the misfor-
tunes of the public never intrude themselves upon your domestic
peace !
" When I began this scrawl, I intended it only for you, I have
been led into a train of scribbling which has not left me a moment to
write to the man whom 1 love and esteem, Mr. Iredell. In supreme
confidence, give him a sight of this, and beg his remembrance of
me. To your and his families, pray offer my most respectful com-
pliments ; and believe me to be, with unaltered esteem and affection,
" Your friend,
"WILLIAM HOOPER.
" Sam'l Johnston, Esq."
I have preferred the publication of Mr. Hooper's let-
ters, as a better means of defending his character from
a mere naked aspersion, to any animadversions of my
WILLIAM HOOPER. 327
own. The one which I have just submiued, it will be
seen, was strictly confidential. Mr. Hooper and Mr.
Johnston were on most intimate social and political terms,
and their correspondence the most labored and valuable
1 have met with in the State.
The best evidence of the Whig character of Mr.
Hooper, was his reelection in December, 1776, to the
Continental Congress. If he had been a Tory, the
vigilance of the staunch Whig, Caswell, who was Gov-
ernor elect of the State, and who had been so long and
so intimately acquainted with him, would have detected
and exposed him.
But what was the character of Mr. Hooper, as a mem-
ber of the Continental Congress f That body seems to
have reposed the most unlimited confidence in his patriot-
ism, and to have called in the aid of his abilities on all
important committees. In conjunction with Dr. Franklin,
Robert Morris, and Richard Henry Lee, he formed the
secret Committee of Foreign Intercourse. This was per-
haps the most important committee ever instituted by the
Congress. They were authorized to conceal important
information from the Congress itself, and to keep secret
agents abroad, to make agreements, and thus secretly
to pledge the faith of the nation. Would a Tory have
been placed upon such a committee ? In the very pres-
ence, too, of " so mighty and transcendent a patriot as Mr.
Jefferson ^ " Adorned as the Continental Congress was
with the patriotism, wealth, and talents of the whole
country, would they have passed over such men, to have
plumed, with the honor of their unlimited confidence, the
rankest Tory in Congress. Where was the boasted Whig
zeal of the sage of Monticello, that he did not rise in his
328 THE CHARACTER OF
place, and protest against the commission of such im-
mensely important matters into such unworthy hands; —
matters, the miscarriage or mismanagement of which
would have destroyed all hopes of foreign aid, and have
soiled for ever the escutcheon of the country.
But for the purpose of destroying all skepticism as
to the character of Mr. Hooper, I shall now appeal to
the personal testimony of one of his contemporaries,
who lived within the sphere of his acquaintance, and
who, with a mind stored with the wisdom of a long,
active, and patriotic life, now lives among us, as a light
to cheer the darkness of the past. It was to this species of
evidence that I first turned, to test the truth of Mr. Jeffer-
son's aspersions. I have sought, and gathered too, infor-
mation as to the character of Mr. Hooper, from the elder
people of both sexes in Orange County, and on the
Cape Fear, in both of which sections of the State he
resided ; and it was scarcely an exaggeration, when I
said, in the Introduction to this work, that I had " ques-
tioned every old man and old woman from Cape Hatteras
to the Blue Ridge ; " and none at all, when I said, that I
had not heard a single word which would support the
shameful calumny of rank Toryism. In a letter which I
had the honor to receive from Colonel Samuel Ashe of
Cape Fear, dated on the 2Gth of August, 1833, he thus
speaks of Mr. Hooper :
" My personal acquaintance with Mr. William Hooper, owing to
the great disparity in our ages (for he was my senior by many
years), was very slight, having been seldom thrown into his com-
pany after I reached manhood. But I am happy in having this
opportunity of bearing my testimony in his favor. As a lawyer,
as a scholar, as a man of amiable and fascinating manners, he was
unrivalled by any of his contemporaries ; and as a Whig, he enjoyed
the entire confidence of all who knew him : and it never entered
WILLIAM HOOPER. 329
into my mind that the soundness of his Whig principles had ever
been questioned by any authority. From my intimate knowledge
of his character, I feel warranted in saying, that he was a man of
as free principles, and as ardently devoted to the cause of American
liberty, as any other of the distinguished personages, who were
involved in the revolution."
The unlimited confidence of the Continental Congress,
of the Whigs of North Carolina, and, above all, his pri-
vate letters, attest the character of Mr. Hooper. The
charge of Mr. Jefferson deserves no lighter reproach, than
to be pronounced a base and unprincipled falsehood,
unsupported by any evidence within the range of human
inquiry. A more flagrant instance of violation of truth
cannot be found in the annals of cabalistic literature. It is
stamped with all the malignity and captiousness of a hero
who knew, in his own heart, that his boasted laurels had
been purloined from the dead, and that they would be
restored by the scrutiny of posterity. The character of
Mr. Jefferson, like the house of the foolish man in the
scripture parable, is built upon sand. It cannot stand
the storm which the publication of his writings must pro-
voke, from the hands of those whose lives are calumnia-
ted with the seeming solemnities of truth. The Hamil-
tons of New York, the Lees of Virginia, the Lowells of
Massachusetts, and the whole country in the character
of Washington, must appeal to the impartiality of pos-
terity. As for my own part, I am content, that the
aspersion of Mr. Hooper shall go down to future limes
contradicted by this brief analysis of his character, —
confirmed as that character is by his private and
public letters, and the universal admiration of his con-
temporaries. His letter of 26th of April, 1774, his
services in the first Provincial and Continental Con-
28*
330 THE CHARACTER OF
gresses, his zeal in urging the question of Independence
in the spring Convention of 1776, and finally his signa-
ture to the National Declaration, will be cherished as
memorials of a patriot, when the shrine at Monlicello
will be irreverently visited, like that at Delphi, only as the
former habitation of a hev^then god.
I have thus, in the course of this work, endeavoured to
defend the character of North Carolina from the abuse
of one, the popularity of whose name, with many, gives
a sanction even to the fiction of an impossibility. The
character of Mr. Hooper, and the truth of the Mecklen-
burg Declaration, are important points in the estimate,
which posterity will make of the character of the State.
I feel confident that I have fulfilled my promise, and that
the character of the former has been vindicated, and the
truth of the latter established, beyond the reach of con-
troversy. In the course of my labors, I have studiously
shunned all equivocation of language, and have not hesitat-
ed to write with a bitterness of reproach correspondent
to the malignity of the charge of Mr. Jefferson. The
enormity of the calumny, while it demanded a patient
investigation, has justified the severest denunciation.
The allusion to Mr. Hewes, in the letter of Mr. Jef-
ferson, as an uncertain and wavering politician, tempering
his zeal according to the aspect of the times, is equally
as unfounded, as the other portions of his episde. Mr.
Hewes made great sacrifices in the cause of liberty,
and enjoyed throughout his life the confidence of the
Whig party of North Carolina. I have a great number
of his private letters before me, and search them in vain
for any signs of equivocation on the subject of Independ-
ence. He, for a long time, sustained himself as the only
WILLIAM HOOPER. 33I
Representative of North Carolina, and gave his vote for
and signed his name to, the Declaration of Independence.
He laid the resolu ions of the Provincial Congress of
North Carolina on Independence, before the Continental
Congress, on the 27th of May,* before those of Virginia
were there presented, and gave his heart and hand to the
noble cause he was thus instructed to support. But in
his politics, as applied to the government of North Caro-
lina, he was a high conservative, and urged the erection
of a splendid government, independent of the control of
the mob, and of course of their boasted leader. Such
may have been the signs of his wavering conduct, so
clearly and exclusively visible to the sage of Monticello.
* See Journal of the Continental Congress.
APPENDIX
THE MILITARY ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE IN
1775 AND 1776.
The three grand divisions of the army of the State
adopted by the Congress of August, 1775, were the two
Continental Regiments, commanded by Generals iVIoore
and Howe, the Minute-men, and the regular Militia.
In the body of the work, I have enumerated the names
of the OfScers of the two first, and shall now present
those of the Field-Officers of the Militia.
Samuel Jarvis, Colonel.
Dennis Dauge, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Taylor Jones, Major.
Josiah Nicholson, 2d Major.
John Lowry, Colonel.
Isaac Gregory, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Demsy Burgess, Major.
Joshua Campbell, 2d Major.
Miles Harvey, Colonel.
William Skinner, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Thomas Harvey, Major.
Richard Clayton, 2d Major.
Thomas Bonner, Colonel.
James Blount, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Thomas Benbury, Major.
Jacob Hunter, 2d Major.
Thomas Whitmell, Colonel.
Thomas Pugh, Lieutenant- Colonel.
James Moore, Major.
Arthur Brown, 2d Major.
Benjamin Wynns, Colonel.
Matthew Brickie,
Laurence Baker, J\
George Little, 2d Major.
Currituck County.
Pasquotank County.
yPerquimons County.
J
vChoioan County.
\ Bertie County.
Matthew Bnckle Lieutenant-Colonel. {jj^^^f^^^ County.
Laurence Baker, Major. {
334
APPENDIX.
> Tyrrell County.
\- Martin County.
Halifax County.
■ Korth Hampton County.
Edward Buncombe, Colonel.
Benjamin BlounI, Lieutenant- Colonel.
James Long', Major.
Joseph Spruill, 2d Major.
William Williams, Colonel.
Whitmell Hill, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Thomas Wiggins, Major.
Kennith McKenzie, 2d Major.
John Bradford, Colonel.
"William Alston, Lieutenant- Colonel.
David Sumner, Major.
Egbert Hajwood, 2d Major.
Allen Jones, Colonel.
William Eaton, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Jeptha Atherton, Major.
Howell Edmunds, 2d Major. J
William Haywood, Colonel. "^
Sherwood W^.y wooA,Lieutenant-Colonel. i^^g^comhe County.
Joseph Moore, Major. I
Henry Home, 2d Major. J
William Person, Colonel. ^
Philemon Hawkins,Jun.,iLieMfcnanf-Coi.
William Alston, Major.
Thomas Sherwood, 2d Major.
Samuel Spencer, Colonel.
Charles Medlock, Lieutenant- Colonel.
James Auld, Major.
David Love, 2d Major.
Thomas Polk, Colonel.
Adam Alexander, Lieutenant- Colonel.
John Phifer, Major.
John Davidson, 2d Major.
William Graham, Colonel.
Charles Maclaine, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Thomas Beatty, Major.
Frederick Hambright, 2d Major.
Ransom Sutherland, Colonel.
James Martin, Lieutenant- Colonel.
John Paisly, Major.
John Tate, 2d Major.
Martin Armstrong, Colonel.
Joseph Williams, Lieutenant- Colonel.
William Hall, Major.
Joseph Winston, 2d Major.
Griffith Rutherford, Colonel
Francis Locke, Lieutenant- Colonel.
John Dobbens, Major.
James Brandon, 2d Major,
Bute County.
\- Anson County.
\ Mecklenburg County.
)■ Tryon County.
Guilford County.
Y Surry County.
I Rowan County.
APPENDIX.
335
Joseph Leech, Colonel.
John Bryan, Lieutenant- Coloriel.
John Benners, Major.
Frederick Becton, 2d Major.
"William Thompson, Colonel.
Solomon Shepard, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Thomas Chad wick, Major.
Malachi Bell, 2d Major.
James Bonner, Colonel.
Thomas* Bonner, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Roger Ormond, Major.
William Brown, 2d Major.
Rotheas Latham, Colonel.
Benjamin Parmelin, Lieutenant- Colonel
William Russell, Major.
Thomas Jones, 2d Major. J
Needham Bryan, Colonel.
William Bryan, Lieutenant- Colonel.
John Smith, Major.
Samuel Smith, Jun., 2d Major.
Abraham Shepard, Colonel.
Thomas Torrans, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Martin Caswell, Major.
William McKennie, 2d Major.
John Simpson, Colonel.
Robert Salter, Lieutenant- Colonel.
George Evans, Major.
James Armstrong, 2d Major.
John Davis, Colonel.
Thomas Davis, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Richard Quince, Jun., Major.
Parker Qunice, 2d Major.
William Gray, Colonel.
Henry Rhodes, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Thomas Johnston, Major.
James Howard, 2d Major.
James Kenan, Colonel.
Richard Clinton, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Thomas Routledge, Major.
James Moore, 2d Major.
*Thomas Rutherford, Colonel.
fAlex. McAlister, Lieutenant- Colonel.
*Duncan McNeill, Major.
*Alexander McDonald, 2d Major.
1
^Craven County.
)■ Carteret County.
1
y Beaufort County.
Hyde County.
■Johnston County.
Dohhs County.
Pitt County.
Brunsioick County.
}■ Onslow County.
1
I
Duplin County.
Cumberland County.
J
Tory.
t Whig.
33G
APPENDIX.
■ Ncio Hanover County.
Bladen County.
William Purviance, Colonel.
Sampson Mosely, Lieutenant- Colonel.
William Mosely, Major.
John Devane, 2d Major.
Thomas Robinson, Jun., Colonel.
Thomas Brown, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Thomas Owen, Major,
James Richardson, 2d Major.
John Hogan, Colonel.
John Butler, Lieutenant- Colonel.
William Moore, Major.
Nathaniel Rochester,* 2d Major.
Joseph Taylor, Colonel.
Charles R. Eaton, Lieutenant- Colonel .
Samuel Smith, Major.
William Williams, 2d Major.
John Hinton, Colonel.
Theophilus Hunter, Lieutenant- Colonel.
John Hinton, Jan., jtfr/jor.
Thomas Hines, 2d Major.
Ambrose Ramsay, Colonel.
Jeduthun Harper, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Mial Scurloch, Major.
Elisha Cain, 2d Major.
In the spring of 1776, the Militia system was re-
organized. In several of the counties, the officers thus
appointed were found to be adherents of the Royal
cause, and these were not only superseded, but ar-
raigned for trial. Such was the case with those of the
county of Cumberland. The Militia of the counties of
Orange, Pasquotank, and Rowan, were divided into
two Regiments, and of course an additional number of
officers were appointed. Many promotions, too, and
several resignations occurred, and produced changes
in the Militia system. I now proceed to enumerate the
changes made by the Congress on the 22d of April,
1776.
Orange County.
Granville County.
Wake County.
Chatham County.
Charles Medlock, Colonel.
David Love, Lieutenant- Colonel.
William Picket, Major.
George Davidson, 2d Major.
■Anson County.
* After whom the town of Rochester in New York was called.
APPENDIX.
337
William Brown, Major.
Henry Bonner, 2d Major.
Thomas Eaton, Colonel.
William Alston, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Thomas Sherwood, Major.
Green Hill, 2d Major.
John Bryan, Colonel.
Lemuel Hatch, Lieutenant- Colonel.
John Bryan, Jan., Major.
John Tilman, 2d Major.
Hollowell Williams, Colonel.
Solomon Perkins, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Asahel Simmonds, 2d Major.
Alexander McAllister, Colonel.
Ebenezer Folsome, Lieutenant- Colonel.
David Smith, Major.
Philip Alston, 2d Major.
Matthew Jones, 2d Major.
Thomas Routledge, Lieutenant- Colonel.
James Moore, Major,
Robert Dickson, 2d Major.
Martin Caswell, Lieutenant- Colonel.
William McKennie, Major.
James Glasgow, 'Id Major.
Exum Lewis, Colonel.
Simon Gray, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Jonas Johnston, Major.
Thomas Hunter, 2d Major.
Thornton Yancy, 2d Major.
James Martin, Colonel.
John Paisly, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Thomas Owen, Major.
Thomas Blair, 2d Major.
Willis Alston, Colonel.
David Sumner, Lieutenant- Colond.
James Hogan, Major.
Samuel Weldon, 2d Major.
William Bryan, Colonel.
John Smith, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Samuel Smith, Jun., Major.
John Stevens, 2d Major.
Adam Alexander, Colonel.
John Phifer, Lieutenant- Colonel.
John Davidson, Major.
George A. Alexander, 2d Major.
29
> Beaufort County.
1
yjBute County^
J
1
Craven County.
y Currituck County.
> Cumberland County.
Chatham County.
■Duplin County.
S-Dohbs County.
> Edgecombe County.
Granville County,
> Guilford County.
> Halifax County.
> Johnston County.
> Mecklenburg County.
338
APPENDIX.
Anthony Ward, Lieutenant- Colonel,
Henry Young, Major.
Thomas Bloodworth, 2.d Major.
William Eaton, Colonel.
Jeptha Atherton, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Howell Edmunds, Major.
Drury Gee, 2d Major.
John Butler, Colonel.
Nathaniel Rochester, Lieutenant- Col.
Robert Abercrombie, Jun., Major.
Hugh Tennen, 2d Major.
James Saunders, Colonel.
William "Moore, Lieutenant- Colonel.
John Paine, Major.
Thomas Harrison, 2d Major.
Thomas Boyd, Colonel.
Spencer Ripley, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Othniel Lascelles, Major.
John Casey, 2d Major.
Isaac Gregory, Colonel.
Demsy Burgess, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Joshua Campbell, Major.
Peter Dauge, 2d Major.
Francis Locke, Colonel. ")
Alexander Dobbens, Lieutenant- Colonel. [First Roican
James Brandon, Major. [ Regiment.
James Smith, 2d Major. J
■Christopher Beckman, Colonel. "^
Charles McDowell, Lieutenant- Colonel. \ Second Rowan
Hugh Brevard, Major. \ Regiment.
George Welfong, 2d Major.
Joseph Winston, Major.
Jesse Walton, 2d Major.
Clement Crook, Colonel.
James Long, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Joseph Spruill, Major.
Andrew Long, 2d Major.
Thomas Beatty, Lieutenant- Colonel.
Andrew Hampton, Major.
Jacob Cosner, 2d Major.
yJVew Hanover County.
-JVorth Hampton County.
Southern Orange
Regiment.
Northern Orange
Recrimcnt.
First Pasquotank
Regiment.
\ Second Pasquotank
j Regiment.
1
\ Surry County.
> Tyrrell County.
> Tryon County,
In the counties not here mentioned, no changes were
made by the spring Congress of 1776. The Congress,
however, increased the number of Regiments in the
Continental service from two to six : and as James
ilst
}
APPENDIX. 339
Moore and Robert Howe had been promoted to the
rank of Brigadier-Generals in the Continental army,
the following appointments were made to the commands
of the First and Second Regiments.
Francis Nash, Colonel.
Thomas Clark, Lieutenant- Colonel. ^Ist Regiment.
William -Davis, Major.
Alexander Martin, Colonel.
John Vaiien, Lieutenant- Colonel. y 2d Regiment.
John White, Major.
To the commands of the four new Regiments, the
following Officers were appointed.
Jethro Sumner, Colonel.
William Alston, Lieutenant- Colonel. ySd Regiment.
Samuel Lockhart, Major.
Thomas Polk, Colonel.
James Thackston, Lieutenant- Colonel. y4th Regiment.
William Davidson, Major.
Edward Buncombe, Colonel.
Henry Irwin, Lieutenant- Colonel. ^^th Regiment.
Levi Dawson, Major.
Alexander Lillington, Colonel. '\
William Taylor, Lieutenant- Colonel. VQth Regiment.
Gideon Lamb, Major. j
There were, at this time, six Brigadier-Generals in
the State, and each ranked in his own district.
General John Ashe was Commander-in-chief in the District of
Wilmington,
General Allen Jones, in that of Halifax,
General Edward Vail, in that of Edenton,
General Griffith Rutherford, in that of Salisbury,
-General Thomas Person, in that of Hillsborough, and
General William Bryan, in that of New Berne.
When, therefore, the armament of Sir Peter Parker
was in the Cape Fear River, General Ashe ranked
Brigadier-General Bryan, who commanded the troops
from the New Berne district, on their march to Wil-
mington.
340 APPENDIX.
The spring Congress of 177G raised three Light-
Horse Companies, and made the following appointment
of Officers.
John Dickerson, Captain. "]
Samuel Aslie, Jun., Lieutenant. Vlst Company.
Abraham Childers, Cornet. J
Martin Phifer, Captain. "^
James Sumner, Lieutenant. >2d Company.
Valentine Beard, Corriet. J
James Jones, Captain. ^
Cosimo Madacy, Lieutenant. '>3d Company.
James Armstrong, Cornet. J
I ought to mention here the Volunteer Companies of
the State, who were invariably the best soldiers. Colonel
Lillington's volunteer band was with him at the battle
of Moore's Creek. General Rutherford commanded a
similar band, as did Major Dauge of Currituck.
In the campaign against Sir Peter Parker's armament,
there was a volunteer company that marched from New
Berne in May, under the command of Dr. Alexander
Gaston. This company is mentioned in a letter in an
old English Gazette, which I have, in the following
manner : — " The rebels are watching our ships from
their hiding-places on the shores throughout the day
and night. A scouting party from the 33d yesterday
brought in a private who reported himself as belong-
ing to a company of a Captain Gaston, which had been
on a scouring party about our ships for several days.
He further reports the rebel forces as daily increasing
in numbers and confidence." The letter is dated the
35th of May, the old Gazette in October. There is some
notice of this company in the accounts of Paymaster
Ashe, a few sheets of which I obtained from the papers
of the late Judge Williams.
APPENDIX. 341
THE BATTLE OP MOORE's CREEK.
(Extracts.)
Letter from Richard Caswell to Mr. President Harnett.
" Fehruarij 29th, 1776.
'* Sir,' I have the pleasure to acquaint you that we
had an engagement with the Tories at Widow Moore's
Creek Bridge on the 27th current. Our army was about
one thousand strong ; consisting of the New Berne
battalion of Minute-men, the Militia from Craven, Johns-
ton, Dobbs, and Wake, and a detachment of the Wil-
mington battalion of Minute-men, which we found en-
camped at Moore's Creek the night before the battle,
under the command of Colonel Lillington. The Tories,
by common report, were three thousand ; but General
McDonald, whom we have prisoner, says there were
about fifteen or sixteen hundred ; he was unwell that
day and not in the battle. Captain McLeod, who seemed
to be principal commander, and Captain John Campbell,
are among the slain."
In the same letter he says : — " Colonel Moore arrived
at our camp a few hours after the engagement was over ;
his troops came up that evening, and are now encamped
on the ground where the battle was fought, and Colonel
Martin is at or near Cross Creek, with a large body of
men ; those, I presume, will be sufficient to put a stop
to any attempt to embody them again."
Letter from General Moore to Mr. President Harnett.
" 3Iarch 2d, 1776.
** The next morning, the 27th, at break of day an
alarm gun was fired, immediately after which, scarcely
leaving our people a moment to prepare, the Tory army
with Captain McLeod at their head made their attack
342 APPENDIX.
on Colonels Caswell and Lillington, and, finding a small
entrenchment next the bridge on our side empty, con-
cluded that our people had abandoned their post, and
in the most furious manner advanced within thirty paces
of our breast-work and artillery, where they met a very
proper reception. ''
Letter from an unknown source, dated the 10th of March,
177C. (Remembrancer, Part II, p. 74 )
''Parties of men are dispersed all over the Colony,
apprehending all suspected persons, and disarming all
Highlanders and Regulators that were put to the rout in
the late battle. The conquerors have already taken
350 guns and shot-bags; about 150 swords and dirks;
1500 excellent rifles ; two medicine-chests fresh from
England, one of them valued at 300 pounds sterling,
a box containing half Joaneses and Guineas, secreted
in a stable at Cross Creek, discovered by a negro and
reported to be worth ^15,000 sterling ; also thirteen wag-
ons with complete sets of horses. 850 common soldiers
were made prisoners, disarmed and discharged. Colonel
Long has also apprehended several of their officers, who
are now in Halifax gaol, viz. Colonel John Piles, Major
Thomas Collins, Captain David Jackson, Enoch Brady,
John Piles, and Thomas Readford, Lieutenant Stephen
Parker, and Daniel McDonald, the latter wounded
through the thigh. Ensign Denning, and Dr. Robertson.
There are in the same gaol four persons of the name of
Field, one Turner, and three Bells, a Midshipman, and
a Cluarter-gunner of the Scorpion ; likewise, one Kings-
borough McDonald, Mr. Rutherford, Hector McNeil,
and Alexander McDonald, Captains Morrison, McKen-
zie, lire, Leggate, Cross, Parsons, McCoy, Mase, Micke-
son, McCarter, and Adjutant Frazer, Lieutenants
Mclver and Hewes, Cameron, Donald Hewes, Donald
APPENDIX. 343
Cameron, and sundry other Lieutenants and Ensigns,
whose names we have not an account of. Kennett
McDonald, Aid-de-Camp, James Hepborn, Secretary,
Parson Beatty, and Dr. Morrison, Commissary. General
McDonald and Brigadier-General McLeod (the latter of
whom was killed) set out at the head of this banditti
with the avowed intention of carrying Governor Martin
into the interior part of the Province." *
* I have admitted, in the body of this book, that Colonel Caswell
was the senior of Colonel Lillington at the battle of Moore's Creek.
I was mistaken, for the battle-field was in Lillington's district, and
there he ranked Caswell, who held only a Colonel's commission,
in the Minute service.
THE END*
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